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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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n 


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D 


n 


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Couverture  endommagie 


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22X 

26X 

30X 

J 

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IfX 

20X 

24X 

»K 

32X 

v.r';:\M 


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The  lest  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — i^-  (meening  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

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right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


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plus  grand  soln,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  ia  nettet*  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  lea  conditions  du  contrat  de 
fllmage. 

Les  exemplaires  orlginaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  fiimte  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlire  pege  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impresslon  ou  d'illustratlon,  soit  par  ie  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempieires 
orlginaux  sont  fiimte  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impresslon  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symbolee  sulvants  apparattra  sur  la 
derniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  le 
cas:  ie  symbols  — »>  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
flimis  i  dee  taux  de  reduction  diff«rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reprodult  en  un  seul  clichA,  il  est  fllm«  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  baa,  en  prenant  ie  nombre 
d'Images  nicsssslre.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

^1 


THE  END 


or 


/i>t? 


bELIGIOUS  CONTROVERSY 


IN  A 


FRIENDLY  CORREp(]r^|;NC£ 


RELIGIOUS  SOCIETY  OF  PROTESTANTS 


AND  A 


n;i- 


I  yU  ,Ji<»i»ibJ(f  nsikmil)  aril  lo  dlirij  a^  »0 

CATHOLIC  DIVINE. 

BY  tHE  RIGHT  REV.  JOBN  M^LNEK. 


^ 


^DaiiiiJf.in'i  U)  r.oih.i 


u--f\.  <vT 


»  ?fiftinfl  1o  trfiilnW  to  9iufl 
nne  ntti"    ii  f^triTt  -ihiH  s-iilT 
ew  'li>  ^Uiii  ■lit  v.;  fHiOiUiMiu  lin* 

♦  •  BALTIMORE:  .»J6  ,M4«ikHUut« 

METROPOLITAN  PRESS. 

1844. 

HOLY  REUEEIIER  LIBRARY,  WINDSUR 


*i©[  yiiT 


'i*> 


.   U 


CONTENTS. 


i  a  VI  a  a  ■    FAMT  L .  t  a  a  k  j  j  -^ 


p<igt| 


-;,;^.,.  ,.  LETTER  I.     " 

Mr.  Brown^  Apology  to  Dr.  M.  Account  of  the  Friendly  Society  of  New 
Cottage \\ 


ESSAY  I. 

On  tlw  Existcnc*  of  God  and  Natural  Religion,  by  the  Re?.  Samuel  Carey, 
LL.  D.  "•"•--  "-4| 

ESSAY  II. 
Ob  the  truth  of  the  Christian  Religion,  by  Do.  .... 

..i  /       LETTER  II.    Uin  A    ) 
To  Jama  Brown,  Esq. 

Dr.  M *s  Conditions  for  entering  on  the  Correspondence.    Freedom  of 

Speech.    Sincerity  and  Candour.    A  Conclusive  Method  •  -    13 


.  aa  V  '       LETTER  in. 

From  Jaimes  Brovan,  Etq. 
Agreement  to  the  Conditions  on  the  part  of  the  Society 


i  H  r  V  n 


LETTER  IV. 

To  Jamea  JBrown,  Esq. 

Dispositions  for  success  in  Religious  Inquiries.  Renunciation  of  prejudices, 
paasioDS,  and  vicious  inclinations.    Fervent  prayer  ... 

LETTER  V.  ' 

To  Janus  Browtif  Esq, 

Rule  or  Method  of  finding  out  the  True  Religion.  Christ  has  left  a  Rule. 
This  Rule  must  be  sure  and  unerring.  It  must  be  adapted  to  the  capacity 
and  situations  of  the  bulk  of  mankind  •  •  .  .  . 


15 


It  J 


Seoond  fi 
interpr 
learn  h 
providi 
sions,  ( 
Tate  in 
Their  i 
of  lean 


lie  subj 
Script! 
its  sens 
Protest 
follow 

.•lb 


[The  True 
|en,sul 
countr 
taAight 
of  mou 
ceaaors 


?The  wbji 
Rule,  11 
tempts 
Canont 
of  dece 
Catholi 
that  it  1 
•tlarg( 


|Obje6t!oi 
damat 
into  a  I 


l6 


LETTER  VI. 

To  Janus  Browne  Esq. 

First  fallacious  Rule ;  Private  Inspiration.  This  has  led  numberless  Christians 
into  errors,  impiety  and  vice,  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times.  Account 
of  Modern  Fanatics,  Anabaptists,  Quakers,  Moravians,  Swcdenborgians, 
Methodists,  &c.        -  -  •  ...  .  .  .£0 


•  LETTER  Vir. 

To  Janus  Brown,  Esq. 


niii^ 


c'f'*;^''T^^'^'\TM^^^^     .'i    ' 


Contenti, 


LETTER  VIII. 


Pagt. 


ToJatnea  Broien,Esq. 

~  Second  fallacious  Rule ;  the  Scripture  according  to  each  person's  particular 
interpretation  of  it  Clurist  did  not  intend  that  mankind,  in  general,  should 
learn  his  Religion  from  a  Book.  No  Legislator  ever  made  Laws  without 
providing  Judges  and  Magistrates  to  explain  and  enforce  them.  Dissen- 
sions, divisions,  immorality,  and  infidelity,  which  have  arisen  from  the  pri- 
rate  interpretation  of  Scripture.  Illusions  of  Protestants  in  this  matter. 
Their  inconsistency  in  making  Articles,  Catechisms,  &c.  AcknowU^ISiBent 
of  learned  Protestants  on  this  head  ••  -  •         V* 


-3 


S» 


■       /•,,  LETTER    IX.     ^..  .     ::^   ■■',:::■:  -r:- 

To  James  Brown,  Esq.  ^ 

lie  subject  continued.    Protestants  have  no  evidence  of  the  In^ation  at  . 
Scripture :  nor  of  its  authenticity :  nor  of  the  fidelity  of  their  cojpies :  nor  of 
its  sense.    Causes  of  the  obscurity  of  Scripture :  Instances  of  this.    The 
Protestant  Rule  afibrds  no  ground  for  FaUh.    Doubts  in  which  tliose  who 
follow  it  live  and  also  die     -     ^      »  -    h»-    -     •  •  .  ,    44 

um^^bftifiU  ^>''iMi'ir  LETTER  X.   -U  w**Mm    aWma  inmm^ 

To  Jams  Brown,  Esq.  «**<* 

[The  True  Rule,  namely.  The  Whole  Word  of- God,  unwritten  as  well  as  writ- 
ten, subject  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Church.  In  this  and  in  every  other 
country,  the  written  law  is  grounded  upon  the  unwritten  law.  Christ 
taught  th6  Apostles  by  word  of  mouth,  and  sent  them  to  preach  it  hf  word  7 
of  mouth.  This  method  was  followed  by  them  and  their  disciples  and  suo> 
ceaaors.    Testimonies  of  this  from  the  Fathers  of  the  five  first  centuries 


-r- 


LETTER  XL  „j- 

To  James  Brown^  Esq. 

lie  subieet  continued.  Protestants  forced  to  have  recourse  to  the  Catholio 
Rule,  in  different  instances.  Different  instances  of  this.  Their  vain  at- 
tempts to  adopt  it  in  other  instances.  Quibbling  evasions  of  the  Articles, 
Canons,  Oaths,  and  Laws  respecting  uniformity.  Acknowledged  necessity 
of  deceiving  the  people.  Bishop  Hoadley  the  patron  of  this  hypocrisy.  The 
Catholic  Rule  confessed  by  Bishop  Marsh  to  be  the  Original  Rule.  Pim>fl^ 
that  it  has  never  been  abrogated.  Advantages  of  this  Rule  to  the  Church 
•t  large,  and  to  its  individual  members       -  .  .  •  . 


68 


'O 


61 


LETTER  XIL 

To  James  Broun,  Esq. 

[Objections  answered.    Texts  of  Scripture.    Other  objections.    Illusory  d«*     '^ 
damation  of  Bishop  Porteus.    The  advice  of  Tobias,  when  he  Sent  his  Soa 
into  a  strangi:  country,  recommended  to  the  Society  of  NewCottaice         -    75 


•V 


Y 


,   I'.j.n    ft  V 


ii-*U'",!'>rtir.     'Mi-.!',;')    -till    ;r,    ftij.jj.,,.'    ly  HUmia 


Conienti, 


.sy,l 


PART  JL 


l»rfija|hRfj  «'«««■»?»<(  fi'jfla  VI  Atubian'.Hi  attikfriftS  dWi  j  »{i/}J  iiiobi.i'rtT  J.i. 


tui.tUi-u  .wf.j  ..!->•...  -^        LETTER  XIII.      .  ..  ^....a  ,;,~;-.;i,  .f  v-i  -i 

To  Jome*  Brownj  Esq- 
ConfratulatioD  with  the  Society  of  New  Cottage  on  their  aDknowledgment 
of  the  right  Rule  of  Faith.    Proof  that  the  Catholic  Church  alone  is  pos- 
sessed or  this  Rule.    Characters  or  Marks  of  the  True  Church     -  •  .  :■  -    86 

LETTER  XIV. 

Tq  Janus  Brown,  Esq. 

I/htly,  the  First  Mark  of  the  True  Church.  This  proved  from  Reason— from 
Scripture— and  from  the  Holy  Fathers        -  -  •  •  -    90 

atfT    >ii()  to  ^taiiiijfttsl         LETTER  XV 

I,;  V    .i!<)  iljjtiv/ 111  !'Kii»  ^  ,       „        « 
!  .,    .  ,  .To  Jfmes  Broum,  Esq. 

Want  of  Uni^  among  Protestants  in  general.  This  acknowledged  by  tibetir 
eminent  writers.  Striking  instances  of  it  in  the  Established  Church.  Vain 
attempts  to  reconcile  diversity  of  belief  with  uniform  Articles        -  -OS 

.'•'"■'  To  Jama  Brown,  Esq.       ,  i.-.^,,;,  ,.^,   ,,,, 

Unity  of  Ch«  Oatholie  Churcb^in  Doctrine^in  Liturgy-4n  Ctovemmenti  vai 

Constitution  •  •  >  •  •  --  >98 

ii.  fciMii/»i>.>  *-.  li  11.1  j»(  i.t  10  i<-jiauniiUb'V     .^ loca'fj 

LETTER  XVIL 
To  Dr.  Mi  from  James  irown,  Esq. 
Objections  against  the  exclusive  clums  of  Catholics.    Extract  of  a  letter  from 
the  Rev.  N.  N.  Prebendary  of  N.    Bishop  Watson's  doctrine  on  Uiis  head    108 


'\f\i>in:  'diii'i  PjiJ-  sl:--i'i 


!•   •» 


LETTER  XVL     "'^^ ''  .vj  <«/!(! '.•sWV^  Mt>T  •♦ifi' 


'J[^i*d.'^%' 


•IrvA 


■■A  '  •.    .  ::.•■   ■■\ 


LETTER  XVin. 

To  James  Broten,  Esq. 

Objeotions  answered.  Bishop  Watson,  by  attempting  to  prove  too  much, 
proves  nothing.  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers  on  this 
Mad.    Exclusive  dum  of  the  Catholic  Church  a  proof  of  her  truth  •  lOS 

LETTER  XIX. 

To  James  Brown,  Esq. 

Second  Mark  of  the  True  Church,  SanctUy.  Sanctity  of  doctrine  wanting  to 
the  different  Protestant  Communions— to  Luther's  system— to  Calvin's— to 
that  of  the  Established  Church— to  those  of  Dissenters  and  Methodists. 
Doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  Holy         .....  108 


POSTSCRIPT.  ' 

Variations  and  impiety  of  the  late  Rev.  John  Wesley's  doctrina 


lis 


LETTER  XX. 

To  Jatnes  Brown,  Esq, 

Means  of  SancUty.  The  Seven  Sacraments,  possessed  by  Catholics.  Pro* 
testants  possess  none  of  them,  except  Baptism.  The  whole  Liturgy  of  Uie 
Established  Church  borrowed  from  the  Catholic  Missal  and  Ritua..  Sa* 
criAce  the  most  acceptable  worship  of  God.  Tiie  most  perfect  Sacrifiod 
offered  in  the  Catholic  Church.  Protestants  destitute  of  Sacrifice.  Other 
moans  of  Sanctity  in  the  Catholic  communion        -  -  119 


GmHtenU, 


LETTER  XXI. 

T\t  Jamu  Brown,  Esq. 

Fnuti  0/  Sanodtor*  AU  the  saiAts  were  Catholics.  Comparison  of  eii^«n| 
Protestants  wrai  contemporatr  Catholics.  ImmbniU^  tatuied  "bj  ehaonit 
theAAdentReligioa  r 


Pag$, 


v»«/(A  <> 


MiiciikiHt  1/tiu  eSHintvU  iO  i;<iA 


1S6 


LETTER  XXII. 

■  ■  To  Mr.  J.  Touhdn.  >.  -'  - 

Objections  answered.  False  accounts  of  the  Church  before  the  Reformation, 
90  called.  Ditto  of  John  Fox*s  Martyrs.  The  viceiT  of  a  feIC  Popes  tfo 
impeachment  of  the  Church's  Sanctity.  Scriptural  practices  and  denSset 
common  among  Catholics  btit  despised  by  Protestants       it''    ^^  b^ 


i.     I!-,'. 


I'^Uisl    '.<>  \hn>;: 


IM 


.tii'f(/i  '9th 


Ulii  tHiflt-'HI'tbutStti 


'»  LETTER  XXHI.'  ^  •7'." 

to  James  Broumj  Esq. 

Divine  Attestation  of  Sanctity  in  the  Catholic  Church.  Murades  the  Crit*>r 
rion  of  Truth.  Christ  appeals  to  them,  and  promises  a  continuation  of 
them.  The  Holy  Fathers  and  Church  wcHeiS  attest  their  continuation,  and 
appeal  to  them,  in  proof  of  the  True  Church.  Eridence  of  the  Truth  (tf 
many  Miracles.  IrreUgious  scepticism  of  Dr.  Conner's  |tf  iddleton :  this 
undermines  tiie  Credit  of  the  Gospel  Continuation  of  miradn  domtio  ^  ' 
present  time :  living  tritnesses  of  it  -      ' '  't^  >^^"i.'"J  '  ■  *  "J"    .188 

-Ttfjfct  1»  bad  snoiKTiVfltt^j  1  L£<|Mp£H  XXIV.    •'**'*l>*^"'  to  uc'JcTjvao^  atli 
t.vlf  illjw  airs?!?  «,    *         n  »        wH  a<iJi<l  f^fb  Td  noitaM 

To  Jams  Brown,  Esq.  .  ,,„,.i.»;,M  *,»f  >> 
Objections  answered.  False  and  unauthenticated  miracles  no  disproof  of  true 
and  authenticated  ones.  Strictness  of  tiie  examination  of  reported  miradei 
at  Rome.  Not  necessary  to  know  God's  design  in  working  each  quiade.  ,} 
Examination  of  the  arguments  of  celebrated  Protestants  agamst  Catholic 
miracles.  Objection  of  Gibbon  and  the  late  bishop  of  Salisbury  (Dr.  John 
Douglass)  against  St.  Bernard's  miracles  refuted.  St.  Xavier's  miracles 
proved  from  the  authors  quoted  against  them.  Dr.  Middleton's  confident 
I!  vi  tiii<\!.vit  ■  assertion  clearly  refuted.  Bishop  Douglass's  Conclusive  Evidence  from 
Acosta  against  St.  Xavier's  miracles  clearly  refuted,  by  the  testimony  of  th^ 
said  Acosta.  Testimony  of  Ribadeneira  concerning  St  Ignatius's  mirac. ; ',; 
truly  stated.  True  account  of  the  miracle  of  Saragossa.  Impostures  at  the 
tomb  of  Abb^  Paris.  Refutation  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Rouert's  pamphlet,  con* 
oeming  the  miraculous  cure  of  Winefrid  White       -  .  .  .  145 

LETTER  XXV. 

To  James  Brown,  Esq. 

The  True  Church  Cathotic.  Always  Catholic  in  name,  by  the  testimony  of 
the  Fathers.    Still  distinguished  by  that  name  in  spite  of  all  opposition     -  15S 

LETTER  XXVL 

To  James  Brown,  Esq. 

Qualities  of  Catholicit]r'  The  Church  Catholic  as  to  its  members :  u  to  its  ex- 
tent; as  to  its  duration.    The  original  Church  of  this  countiy       -  -  166 

LETTER  XXVII. 

To  James  Brown,  Esq. 

Objections  of  the  Rev.  Josuah  Clark  answered.  Existence  of  an  invMbk 
Church  disproved.  Vain  attempt  to  trace  the  existence  of  Protestantina 
through  the  discordant  heresies  of  former  ages.  Vain  Prognostication  of 
the  failure  of  the  True  Church.    Late  attempts  to  undermine  it     •  -  109 


■Contents. 


•  LETTER  XXVIII.       ;,  , 

-  To  JunuB  Brown,  Esq. 

The  Time  Chineb.  4poilolieal:  ao  described  by  the  ancievt  Fathers.    APOS- 
TOLICAL tJEwE  of  the  Catholic  church  explained,  by  a  brief  account  of 
,,    the  fopes<ncl  of  dictinguished  Pastors,  also  of  nations  poiiTerted  by  her, 
and  of  heretics  and  schismatics  cutoff  firom  the  True  Church        -  •  166  ^ 


,■i,r^■^H  .: 


LETTER  XXIX. 

...,,,.■  To  Janua  Brown,  Esq. 
ApbitoUeat  miiMesttbp  of  Ministry  in  the  Catholic  Church.  Among  Protest* 
a«t  8o(6ieties  tite  Church  of  England  alone  claims  such  succession.  Doo- 
iti  trine  and  conduct  of  Luther,  and  of  different  Dissenters  on  this  point  Un* 
certainty  of  the  .Orders  of  the  Established  Church  from  the  doctrine  of  its 
fbunders—firom  the  history  of  the  times— from  the  defectiveness  of  the  form. 
Apostolic  Mission,  evidently  wanting  to  all  Protestants.  They  cannot  show 
•n  ordinvy  mission:  they  cannot  work  miracles  to  prove  an  extraordinary 

i*(Ui  ,iioili;L!xif)r.a')<.i;.t}J'te-xli     LETTER  XXX.       f-.a'in'i  HoU  tni'V     .U]'idi 
1udtu'ir':,W:>  :.n..  tv;:\   To  Jams  Brown,  Esq.    '-"^^  -^i  ■—■' :^^ '>•'"'    ■• 

Objediont  of  the  ReT.  Josuah  Clark  answered.  Apostolical  ministry  not  in- 
terrupted  by  the  personsl  vices  of  certsun  Popes.  Fable  of  Pope  Joan  re- 
fated.  Comparison  between  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic  Missions  for 
the  conversion  of  Infidels.  Vain  prediction  of  conversions  and  of  refor- 
mation by  tiie  Bible  Societies.  Increase  of  crimes  commensurate  with  that 
of  the  Societies       -  •  -  -  '    ..    ,*  *  '  18<>1 

tmtt  m  ion'jqsiii  on  f!'^-*in>iii  '  Jh  ^itin'i    .!Kvi3Vf?rK«  ?!rtoi.!.ir>(' 

■<•''■     ^■-  .  "r.:  '.   >;  POSTSCRIPT.         '  ^O  b!»tf/jitlVMlJl;K  ?Mn: 

Reoi^itttlBtioii  of  thinip  proved  IB  the  &re|oing  Letters  ,  .J/'-i/;'!^;;.,;.^^,,'!  »*i 
iijf'ji.  .iQ},'f_-ujti?./1j(.8 'lo  (|(idaiij  dtE!>;ij  hm  H^KUIt',)  in  i'.'.>{,t't3(tlc.'!     .f.fjla-rtJia 

JCKrii  saioliS'iM   vti-iuV.uv)'.)  i^'r^al^uoU   ffui!.-!.*!      .U'^.-i'-n  ~>hi:.^H  (lolh-jrik 

arfjlo  Y'!''''"!'*'-'*  '»*'  V'  ,f>''^*fei  yfts;fb t,'>;;'>i.-«4:'  •  v.i.i./.  .if,  St-uu.at.  i'.i^.ty.jei 

*  •     «i»)}*M!ii«t  »!'*«U»m;^l  J«  T,iiLni*)o>uyj  vmi<\\b.ii',hil  "h.  vi)(Hi;:!/-.'/i'     .;;1-.u:.v^  {vim 

Hioo^iAii'.^ia&i  «'hj(ioil  s'jJ-rfi  .■/•aH  pji'i'la  ai!liii.v»n.4i     .itiv-l  ^'hu'  i^*  li'tiH-ii 

f/X  n:vn:u 

MfKf<W5tu  «Jj  f<J'  &it  ;v!pd!8">  vb  juri'l  ofiT    ,-!/!%U>M.'n  'io  *  titiit: 


vr 


-Xr>  )f^i  ot  e;; 


i-^ 


.11 /zx  M  ixr:) : 


is  siri'un-i'bii;;  oi  ''■ixai>.H^i'.iUul      ii-ivs'-'t  '>'n'f.  >;!i 


'Lit   t-I     >-riH)J'".t; 


;«'! 


Contentt. 


Pflf* 


len.  APOS- 
ef  account  of 
irted  by  her, 

'      -  -  166 J 


aong  Protest* 
iuioD.  Doo* 
s  point  Un- 
loctrine  of  its 
8  of  the  form, 
cannot  show 
ixtraordinary 


Mf}L 


177 


{hn'V  lo  (i> 

nistry  not  in- 
ope  Joan  re- 
Missions  for 
and  of  refor- 
ttte  with  that 
.       .    -  186| 

/'"•ttcnimc..-., 

■J   1)-|V<|  '   ' 
■i-'i.)TJi'>. 

ujA,  bii  -^ 
..  ',OJji«  tJj.  : 

■  ''     :.>  lilli-- 


U.'.'  »  io  sitliJt: 


.ii  Jo  noiSfrruain  j-irt  Jam; 


///. 


f 


IliinoDVCTioir.    Effects  produced  by  the  foregoing:  Letters  on  the  nunds  of 
■     Mr.  Brown^  and  others  of  his  Society.  This  in  part  counteracted  by  the  Bi^ 

idon's  (Dr.'Porteus' )  Charges  against  the  Catholic  Religion      >  197 


shop  of  London'i 


K  V- 


LETTER  XXXII. 
To  James  Brown,  Esq. 
I  Observations  on  the  Charges  in  question.  Impossibility  of  the  True  Church 
being  guilty  of  them.  Just  conditions  to  be  required  by  a  Catholic  Divine 
in  discussing  them.  Calumny  and  misrepresentation  necessary  weapons 
for  the  assailants  of  the  True  Church.  Instances  of  gross  calumny  publish- 
ed by  eminent  Protestant  writers,  now  living.  Effects  of  these  calumnies. 
No  Catholic  ever  shaken  in  his  faith  by  them.  They  occasion  the  conver> 
sion  of  many  Protestants.  They  render  their  authors  dreadAiUy  guilty  be- 
fore God     -.--  -  -  -  -  -  -  199 

'-.vj'l  .(^.('.Hi'i^vtt  Mi"  Kfvt       To  James  Brmcn,  Esq, 

Charge  of  Idolatry.  Protestantism  not  originally  founded  on  this.  Invoca- 
tion of  the  Prayers  of  Angels  and  Saints  grossly  misrepresented  by  Protest- 
ants :  truly  stated  from  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  Catholic  Doctors.  Yindi-  ^ 
cation  of  the  practice.  Evasive  attack  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham :  Retorted 
upon  his  Lordship.  The  practice  recommended  by  Luther :  vindicated  by 
distinguished  Protestant  Bishops.  Not  imposed  upon  the  faithAil :  highlj 
coDsoUng  and  beneficial       ....  .  .  goC 


r   Ma »«  ifA-stumtHii  un 
..'T-       (,..;-,    .,.,„  „..i..v.. 


-JS  ,9l*j0aq  >iii  7<'  Fifi^ji 


'■■■>.  m 


'VHS'jlho  n.  J 


LETTER  XXXIV. 

To  James  Broton,  Esq. 

Religious  Memorials.  *  Doctrine  and  practice  of  Catholics,  most  of  aU,  mis- 
represented on  this  head.  Old  Protestant  versions  of  Scripture  corrupted 
to  favour  such  misrepresentation.  Unbounded  calumnies  m  the  Homuies, 
and  other  Protestant  publications.  True  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church 
defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  taught  in  her  books  of  instruction. 
Errors  of  Bishop  Porteus,  in  fact  and  in  ruojoning.  Inconsistency  of  his 
own  practice.  No  obligation  on  Catholics  of  possessing  pious  images,  pic- 
tures, or  relics  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  •  813 

LETTER  XXXV.  .'Ti^tjic;!  nfisiufo^ii/. 

''     To  the  Rev.  Robert  Clayton,  Jtf.  Jl.  '  »  "-*  '  >  -^'.'i-iv'iv 

That  the  Saints  cannot  hear  us.  Extravagant  addresses 
to  Saints.  Want  of  candour  in  explaining  them.  No  evidence  of  the  Faith 
of  the  Church.  Notorious  falsehoods  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  concerning 
the  ancient  doctrine  and  practice     •     ■     -\       -        ,-  -  -819 

.  ,   -  -  ■  ■^-  ■■       ' ^-  ■-      LETTER  XXXVL   '■;\'",  -C.^:""!'':":  "X^" 

To  James  Brown,  Esq. 

Transubstantiation.  Important  remark  of  Bishop  Bossuet  concerning  it  Ca- 
tholics not  worshippers  of  bread  and  wine.  Acknowldgement  of  some 
eminent  Protestents.  Disingenuity  of  others,  in  concealing  the  main  ques* 
tion,  and  bringing  forward  another  of  secondary  importance.  The  Luthe- 
rans and  the  most  respectable  Prelates  of  the  Establishment  agree  with  Ca- 
tholics on  the  main  point     -----  ,  823 


■h«i;  -»-vj.f«   f.v.iV 

Objections  refiited. 


•t% 


CofUtnU, 


LETTER  XXXVII.         > 
To  JanuB  Broum,  Etq, 
The  Real  Presence.    Variations  of  the  Established  Church  on  this  point 


In- 


consistency of  her  present  doctrine  concerning  it  Proofii  of  the  Real  Pre« 
senoe  from  Christ's  promise  of  the  Sacrament;  from  his  institution  of  it 
The  same  proved  from  the  ancient  Fathers.  Absurd  position  of  Bishop 
Portens,  as  to  the  wigin  of  the  tenet  The  reality  strongly  maintained  by 
Lather.  Acknowledge  by  the  most  learned  English  Bishops  and  Divinea. 
Its  superior  excellence  and  sublimity  •  -  *        •  •  •  886 

LETTER  XXXVIII.  .' 

To  the  Rev.  JMert  Clajftoitt  M.  JL 

Objections  answered.    Texts  of  Scripture  examined.    Teitincnqr  of  tbt 
senses  weighed.    Alleged  Contradictions  disproved.  -  ^^    ,,  ■'*  834 

LETTER  XXXIX.    r  -xiJ  'to  '^U\(ilin^i:.:  .liii  16) 


■lUU- 


l*«».ij.>' 


■ijt'ix  -.i>t;ir4 


-.•m--""?    U' 


.A  k... 


To  Jumta  Browne  Esq. 

Communion  under  one  or  both  kinds  a  matter  of  discipline.  Protestants 
,  forced  to  recur  to  Tradition  and  Church  discipline.  The  blessed  Eucharist 
a  Sacrifice  as  well  as  a  Sacrament.  As  a  Sacrifice,  both  kinds  netiessary ; 
as  a  Sacrament,  whole  and  entire  under  either  kind.  Protestants  receive 
no  Sacrament  at  all.  The  aposties  sometimes  administered  the  communion 
under  one  kind.  The  Text,  1  Cor.  xi.  87,  corrupted  in  the  English  Pro- 
testant BiUe.  Testimonies  of  the  Fathers  for  communion  in  one  kind.  Oo* 
cation  of  the  ordinances  of  St  Leo  and  Pope  Galasius.  Discipline  okT  the 
Church  different  at  different  times  in  this  matter.  Luther  allowed  of  com- 
munion in  one  kind;  also  the  French  Calvinists;  also  the  Churohof  £ng« 
land.  •  --  -  •  -  -  •  -838 


iM.' 


rir 


LETTER  XL. 


843 


--,tK* 


01 


To  James  Broum,  Esq. 

Excellence  of  Sacrifice.  Appointed  by  God.  Practised  by  all  people,  ex- 
cept Protestants.  Sacrifice  of  the  New  Law,  promised  of  old  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Instituted  by  Christ  The  Holy  Fathers  bear  testimony  to  it, 
and  performed  it  St  Paul's  Epistie  to  the  Hebrews  misinterpreted  by  the 
Bishops  of  London,  Lincoln,  &c.  Deception  of  talking  of  the  PcpuA  Jtfoss. 
Inconsistency  of  Established  Church  in  ordaining  Priests  without  having  a 
Saerifice.  Irreligious  invectives  of  Dr.  Hey  against  the  Holy  Mass,  without 
his  understanding  it !      ■♦;!<.•.  m  1.-....,.  v*'  i,,  ..jtiv.i.'j  •  -  ^'t.n.-f 

.'         -  LETTER  XLI.  ..ff.  ,.-,,» 

To  the  Rev.  Robert  Clayton,  M  Jl. 
Absolution  from  sin.  Horrid  misrepresentation  of  Catholic  doctrine.  Real 
doctrine  of  the  Church,  defined  by  the  Council  of  Trent  This  pure  and 
holy.  Violent  distortion  of  Christ's  words  concerning  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  by  Bishop  Porteus.  Opposite  doctrine  of  Chillingworth:  and  of  Lu- 
ther and  the  Lutherans:  and  of  the  Established  Liturgy.  Inconsistency  of 
Bishop  P.  Refutation  of  bis  arguments  about  confession :  and  of  his  asser- 
tions concerning  the  ancient  doctrine.  Impossibility  of  imposing  ttiis  prac- 
tice on  mankind.  Testimony  of  Chillingworth  as  to  the  comfort  and  bene- 
fit of  a  good  confession        ...  *  -  •  849 


'       LETTER  XLIL 
To  the  Rev.  Robert  Clayton,  M  A. 


Purgaton 
amiddl 
defeate 
Prayers 
versall 


Extreme  1 
and  inc 
refiited 


Antichrist 
and  coi 
charges 


The  Pope 
Scriptur 
gory's  c< 
Concess 


rhe  langu 
terofdi 
guage. 
Inconsia 


Various  m 
Pretend( 
Sacrami 
Advants 
quent  ti 
respecti] 


Indulgences.    Unsupported  false  definition  of  them  by  the  Bishop  of  London. 
His  further  calumnies  on  the  subject    Similar  calumnies  of  other  Protest- 
ant Prelates  and  Divines.    The  genuine  doctrine  of  Catholics.   No  permis- 
2  B 


Contents, 


ispobt  In* 
be  Real  Pre- 
tittttionofit 
in  of  Biihop 
aintained  by 
andDiTinok 


Doiqr  of  Ibt 

;  oiit  ^^■'^ 

Protestants 
led  End^ariat 
Isnet^ssary; 
itanta  receive 
i  communion 
English  Pro- 
inekind.  Oo> 
sipUne  of  the 
iwedofcom* 
nirohofEnc* 


Pagt. 
tion  to  commit  sin.  No  pardon  of  any  future  sin.  No  pardon  of  sin  at  all. 
No  exemption  from  contrition  or  doing  penance.  No  transfer  of  superfluous 
holiness.  Retortion  of  the  charge  on  the  Protestant  tenet  of  imputed 
justice.  A  mere  relaxation  of  temporal  punishment  No  encouragement 
of  vice;  but  rather  of  virtue.  Indulgences  authorized  in  all  Protestant  So- 
cieties. Proofs  of  this  in  the  Church  of  England.  Among  the  Anabaptists. 
Among  the  ancient  and  modern  Calvinists.  Scandalous  BuUs,  Di^nsa- 
tioBS,  and  Indulgences  of  Luther  and  his  disciples  -  -  S58 


'   u    #/  ^'J*  ^  l*J 


J    I  ii'.>  ^lt\r  It 


LETTER  XLIIL 


To  the  Rev.  Sohert  Clayton,  M.  A. 

I  Purgatory  and  Prayers  for  the  dead.  Weak  objection  of  Dr.  Porteus  against 
a  middle  state.  Scriptural  arguments  for  it  Dr.  P's  Appeal  to  Antiquity 
defeated.  Testimonies  of  Lutherans  and  English  Prelates  in  favour  of 
Prayers  ibr  the  Dead.  Eminent  modern  Protestants,  who  proclaim  a  Uni- 
\tnaX  Purgat(Hy.    Consolations  attending  the  Catholic  belief  and  practice .  265 


SS8 


[  people,  ex- 
to  the  Chris* 
stimony  to  it, 
)reted  by  the 
PcpuA  Jdua. 
lout  having  a 
lass,  without 


LETTER  XLIV. 


ifiMltt  i«:+15  <'t  -■  \''li!l-;  JK  ur. 


To  the  Rev.  Robert  Clayton,  M  A. 
Extreme  Unction.    Clear  proof  of  this  Sacrament  from  Scripture.    Impiety 
and  inconsistenqy  of  the  Bishop  in  slighting  this.    His  Appeal  to  Antiqui^ 
refilled 278 


:m] 


S43l 


:trine.    Real 

lis  pure  and 

curgiveness  of 
and  of  Lu- 

onsistency  of 
ofhisasser^ 
ngthisprac- 

>rt  and  bene- 

•  849 


p  of  London, 
ther  Protest- 
No  permis* 


,.wi4il*.  •tt:\  .uiJl  -,d! ' '  ■   ■  ■■"  LETTER  XLV. 

To  the  Rev.  Robert  Clayton,  JIf.  A 

Antichrist ;  Impious  assertions  of  Protestants  concerning  him.  Their  absurd 
and  contradictory  systems.  Retortion  of  the  charge  of  Apostasy.  Other 
charges  against  the  Popedom  refuted  .....  275 

LETTER  XLVI. 

To  the  Rev.  Robert  Clayton,  M  A. 

The  Pope's  Supremacy  truly  stated.  His  spiritual  authority  proved  from 
Scripture.  Exercised  and  acknowledged  in  the  primitive  ages.  St  Gre-> 
gory's  contest  with  the  Patriarch  of  C.  P.  about  uie  title  of  (Ecumenical. 
Concessions  of  eminent  Protestants  ....  .282 

LETTER  XLVII. 

To  James  Brown,  Jun.  Esq. 

The  language  of  the  Liturgy  and  Reading  the  Scriptures.  Language  a  mat- 
ter of  discipline.  Reasons  for  the  Latin  Church  retaining  the  Latin  Lan- 
guage.  Wise  economy  of  the  Church  as  to  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Inconsistencies  of  the  Bible  Societies  ....  .292 

LETTER  XLVIII. 

To  James  Broion,  Jun.  Esq. 

Various  misrepresentations.  Canonical  and  Apocryphal  books  of  Scripture. 
Pretended  invention  of  five  new  Sacraments.  Intention  of  Ministers  of  the 
Sacraments.  Continence  of  the  Clergy— Recommended  by  Parliament 
Advantages  of  fasting.  Deposition  of  Sovereigns  by  Popes  far  less  fre- 
quent than  by  Protestant  Reformers.  The  bishop's  egregious  falsehoods 
respecting  the  primitive  Church       ......  2S9 

LETTER  XLIX. 

To  James  Broton,  Jun.  Esq. 

Religious  Persecution.     The  Catholic  Church  claims  no  right  to  inflict  san- 
guinary punishments,  but  disclaims  it.    The  right  of  temporal  Princes  and 


Contentt, 


Pag0.\ 
Stlftei  in  this  matter.  Meanins  of  Can.  3,  Lateran  if.  truly  stated.  Queen 
Maiy  persecuted  as  a  Sovereign,  not  as  a  Catholic.  James  II.  deposed  for 
rdiuMng  to  persecute.  Retortion  of  the  charge  upon  Protestants  the  most  ef- 
fectual way  of  silencing  them  upon  it  Instances  of  persecution  by  Pro- 
testants in  every  Protestant  country :  in  Germany:  in  Switzerland:  at  Ge- 
neva, and  in  France:  in  Holland:  in  Sweden:  in  Scotland:  in  England. 
Violence  and  long  continuance  of  it  here.  Eminent  loyalty  of  Catholici, 
Two  circumstances  which  distinguished  the  persecution  exercised  by  C»> 
tholics  from  that  exercised  by  Protestants    -  •  -  30S| 

.  j!M.»n.tf  .*«.tt„^» . .  ''»  '*«  Frimdly  SocUty  0/ JVetc  Cottage. 
Conclusion..  Recapitulation  of  points  proved  in  these  letters.    The  True 

Rule  of  Futh :  The  True  Church  of  Christ.    Falsity  of  the  Charges  alleged 

against  her.    An  equal  moral  evidence  for  the  Catholic  as  few  the  Christiao 
'    Religion.    The  former,  by  the  confession  of  its  adversaries,  the  s^er  side. 

No  security  too  great  whertt  Eternity  is  at  stake!     -  •  •  -  921| 


t  T  i*,«.«'..     ■*»;  -  « 


i[i^{.']frtT     .«rt.''   iji^H  iii'ii'i   "^<"» 


A  ^M  .;x  • 

1.  ',»/iJ  h/  C'ViKj/fJcti^*/,)!  t).i 


A  POSTSCRIPT 
To  the  second  Edition  of  the  Address  to  the  Right  Rev.  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
St  DftTid**,  occasioned  by  taa  Lordship's '  One  Word  to  tho  Sto,  Dr  JMUmt.*  S87| 

.)rlX  «:'TT.f,l 

■■''•''"  '  1      ,  ■•i!=jrn'i" 


IM 


V  .lil''-,'na;i 


-M;t''"\  If'  fi' 


.n/,!y  }«.7rr.T  \ 

•iiiiit  iJ  ■I'Sii'U:;  ■<).  r      yni-jjir."'   >im  ?!  .si'i:  ili  m;,,  /.  inil.!  'ifi;    •<•  •(!,  •jsT.ii'f 


\ 


6<^ 


J!         -   .  ',  .    .   Mv        '     .tJ- 


1. 'ttj   •?;;, 


'truhiilV-^'..;  ',■!.., in  flKn 


'■■'  ">  v<i  -tTd 

■i.'t  "]      'fit 
:  t 


it  i  «lF*iyS'i 

")"  < :       .-,•  i.-)il.l     tit    .  •  ,t(J;l,,  (  Ik' 
•  J  );ji  I  •it.M'l  7ti  :,  nil   fii-.i> 


r  ^'  A   •••il.  .It'll Vs. \  MivwU  tA' 

■rif.'  l'((l\i!i   ..!  il'/:'?   iiM    .ii'i';.'*   r.-;fi.-(')    ii'o.ft.l  '  *iilT 


J 

I  SH 

in  thus 

(iqaintai 

to  impo! 

us  a  pa: 

land  lik( 

I  has  beei 

Mr.  J. 

I  mention 

name  of 

?ei-8uasi 
am, 
which  y 
I  to  us,* 
Howe 
J  seems  p 
ed  with 
not  unw 
may  to  it 
[the  ladi< 
(town,  in 

•  Utter 


»d.  Queen 
dqposedfor 
themoftef- 
ion  by  Pro- 
band: atGe- 
in  England, 
of  Catholics. 
bM  by  Cap 

.  305 


,  The  True 
urges  alleged 
the  Christian 
thest/erMdc 


•  921 


\.il'iiiui9iii.il  bii 

ord  Bishop  of 
v.DrMiMr.*SSI 


t'rf'I  '.'■n 


i,k,U'«-V»f!0   > 


7     .'J'^s'U'^ 


,''.tl'j;»'l<'"'i 


'Htiini 


!    5W5MJ^<ff;       THK  END       'to  i-frorJr.oUttirq  jM 


. '  it.^ijj  i;^  "<*)»4i35/  liiitrrjjf  ftv  ,.>. 


OF 


RELIGIOUS  CONTROVERSY. 


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0    D.  F,  S.  Ji  ,       .  ,ii:jb 

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^r.- 


INTROWCTION, 

.,;■]''  New  Cottageytiear  Cressage^  SalopyCJct.  15 ^  1801. 

I  SHOULD  need  an  ample  apology  tor  the  liberty  (  take, 
in  thus  addressing  you  without  having  the  honour  of  your  ac- 
quaintance, and  still  more  for  the  heavy  task  I  am  endeavouring 
to  impose  upon  you,  if  I  did  not  consider  your  public  character, 
as  a  pastor  of  your  religion,  and  as  a  writer  in  defence  of  it, 
and  likewise  your  personal  character  for  benevolence,  whicH 
has  been  described  to  me  by  a  gentleman  of  your  communion, 
Mr.  J.  C— ne,  who  is  well  acquainted  with  us  both.  Having 
mentioned  this,  I  need  only  add,  that  I  write  to  you  in  the 
name  of  a  society  of  serious  and  worthy  Christians,  of  different 

fei-suasions,  to  which  I  myself  belong,  who  arc  as  desirous  as 
am,  to  receive  satisfaction  from  you,  on  certain  doubts, 
which  your  late  work,  in  answer  to  Dr.  Sturges,  has  suggested 
tons.* 

However,  m  making  this  request  of  our  society  to  you,  it 
seems  proper,  Reverend  sir,  that  I  should  bring  you  acquaint- 
ed with  the  nnttre  of  it,  by  way  of  convincing  you,  that  it  is 
not  unworthy  of  the  attention,  which  I  am  desirous  you  should 
pay  to  it.  We  consist  then  of  above  twenty  persons,  including 
the  ladies,  who,  living  at  some  distance  from  any  considerable 
town,  meet  together  once  a  week,  generally  at  my  habita- 

•  lAlterttoaFrtbtndary,  in  answer  to  BtfledumonPaatrythy  the  Rev. 

ttf .  Sturpes,  l*rebmdgrv  and  ChanceUor  of  Winchuler.      ■     "    .   * 

A 


Letter  1, 


tion  of  New  Cottage;  not  so  much  for  our  amusement  and  re* 
fection,  as  for  the  improvement  of  our  minds,  by  reading  the 
best  publications  of  the  day,  which  I  can  procure  from  my 
London  bookseller,  and  sometimes  an  original  essay  written  by 
one  of  the  company. 

I  have  signified  that  many  of  us  are  of  different  religious  per  i 
suasions :  this  will  be  seen  more  distinctly  from  the  following 
account  of  our  members.  Among  these  I  must  mention,  in 
the  first  place,  our  above  named  learned  and  worthy  rector,  Dr. 
Carey.  He  is,  of  course,  of  the  church  of  England ;  but  like 
most  other  of  his  learned  and  dignified  brethren,  in  these  times, 
he  is  of  that  free,  and  as  it  is  called,  liberal  turn  of  mind,  as  to 
explain  away  the  mysteries  and  a  great  many  of  its  other  arti- 
cles, which,  in  my  younger,  days,  were  considered  essential  to 
it.  Mr.  and  Mrs  •  Topham,  are  Methodists  of  the  Predesti- 
narian  and  Antinomian  class,  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Askew  arc 
mitigated  Arminian  Methodists,  of  Wesley's  connection.  Mr, 
and  Mrs.  Rankin  are  honest  Quakers.  Mr.  Barker  and  his 
children  term  themselves  Rational  Dissenters,  being  of  the 
old  Presbyterian  lineage,  which  is  now  almost  imiversally 
gone  into  Socinianism.  I,  for  my  part,  glory  in  being  a 
stanch  member  of  our  happy  establishment,  wnich  has  kept 
the  golden  mean  among  the  contending  sects.  aQd  which  I  am 
fully  persuaded,  approaches  nearer  to  the  purity  of  the  apostol- 
ic church,  than  any  other  which  has  existed  sincjc  the  age  ot 
it.  Mrs.  Brown  professes  an  equal  attachment  to  the  church ; 
vet,  being  of  an  inquisitive  and  ardent  mind,  she  cannot  re- 
frain from  frequenting  the  meetings,  and  even  supporting  the 
missions  of  those  self-created  apostles,  who  are  undermining 
this  church  on  every  side,  and  who  are  no  where  more  active 
than  in  our  sequestered  valley.  IJ  ;.,,;.  ;,;.,  ,    .;,,,  !,,„.,•,.». 

With  these  differences  among  lis,  on  the  most  interesting  ot 
all  subjects,  we  cannot  help  having  frequent  religious  contro- 
versies :  but  reason  and  charity  enables  us  to  manage  these 
without  ar  "  breach  of  either  good  manners  or  good  will  to  each 
other.  Indeed,  I  believe  that  we  are,  one  and  all,  possessed  of 
an  unfeigned  respect  and  cordial  love  for  christians  of  every 
description,  one  only  excepted.  Must  I  name  it  on  the  pre- 
sent occasion  ?— Yes,  I  must ;  in  order  to  fulfil  my  commis- 
sion in  a  proper  manner.  It  is  then  the  church  that  you, 
Kcv.  sir,  belong  to  ;  which,  if  any  credit  is  due  to  the  eminent 
divines,  whose  works  we  are  in  tne  habit  of  reading,  and  more 
])articularly  to  the  illustrious  bishop  Porteus,  in  his  celebrated 
and  standing  work,  called  A  BRIEF  CONFUTATION  OF 
THE  ERRORS  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  extract- 
ed  from  archbishop  Seeker's    V.  SERMONS    AGAINST 


ting  i< 

has  hal 

sial  wl 

PRE] 

notice 

by  thel 

ment  o| 

I,  for 

of  the 

necessi 

quiring 

sons  o 

power. 

jccts  to 

estingl 

havew 

beth,  d< 

anti  SCI 

tins  to 

ana  the 

with  ot 

so  muc 

Rev.  8 

society 

practic 

cnndes 

of  thei 

sole  vi( 

truths. 

Sturge 

I  will  t 

bctwc* 

tation  ( 

dispos 

religio 

God's 


Jnt  oductton. 


.n 


ment  and  re-| 
i  reading  the! 
re  from  my* 
ay  written  by 

religious  per 
he  following 

mention,  in 
ly  rector,  Dr. 
md ;  but  like 
1  these  times, 
f  mind,  as  to 
ts  other  arti- 
1  essential  to 
tie  Predesti- 
.  Askew  arc 
ection.  Mr. 
irkerand  his 
>ein^  of  the 
e  universally 

in  being  a 

ch  has  kept 

I  which  I  am 

f  the  apostol- 

:e  the  age  ot 

the  church ; 

ic  cannot  re- 

)portin^  the 

mdermming 

more  active 

iteresting  ot 
ious  contro- 
anage  these 
will  to  each 
>osses8ed  of 
18  of  every 
on  the  pre- 
ny  commis- 
i  that  you, 
the  eminent 
f,  and  more 
i  celebrated 
TION  OF 
K^  extract' 
GAINSr 


POPERY,*  is  such  amn.^  of  absurdity,  bigotrj-,  superstition, 
idolatry,  and  immorality,  that,  to  say  we  respect  and  love 
those  who  obstinately  adhere  to  it,  as  we  do  otiier  Christians, 
would-  seem  a  compromise  of  rcasbn,  Scripture,  and  virtuoui* 
feeling,  i^q  *Juov  ^  .ai)  ]>■;:. ..^ i;.^i  V';-  ••;•' ■■  '■  \^  v;- •■-  ^:  ,[^:^ 

And  yet'  even  of  this  church,  we  have  formed  a  less  revol- 
ting idea,  in  some  particulars,  than  we  did  formerly.  Thi 
has  happened,  from  our  having  just  read  over  your  controver- 
sial work  against  Dr.  Sturges,  called  LETTERS  TO  A 
PREBENDARY,  to  which  our  attention  was  directed  by  the 
notice  taken  of  it  in  the  house  of  parliament,  and  particularly 
by  the  very  unexpected  compliment  paid  to  it,  by  that  orna- 
ment of  our  church,  bishop  Horsley.  We  admit  then  (at  least 
I,  for  my  part,  admit)  that  you  have  refuted,  the  most  odious 
of  the  charges  brought  against  your  religion,  namely,  that  it  is, 
necessarily,  and,  upon  principal,  intolerant  and  sanguinary,  re- 
quiring its  members  to  persecute,  with  fire  and  sword,  all  per- 
sons of  a  different  creed  from  their  own,  when  this  is  in  tlieir 
power.  You  have  also  proved  that  Papists  may  be  good  sub- 
jects to  a  Protestant  sovereign ;  and  you  have  shown,  by  an  inter- 
esting historical  detail,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  of  this  kingdom 
have  oeen  conspicuous  for  their  loyalty,  from  the  time  of  Eliza- 
beth, down  totne  present  time.  Still  most  of  the  absurd  and 
anti  scriptural  doctrines  and  practices,  alluded  to  above^^  rela- 
ting to  tne  worslUp  of  saints  and  images,  to  transubstantiation . 
and  die  half  communion,  to  purgatory,  and  shutting  up  the  Bible, 
with  others  of  the  same  nature,  you  have  not,  to  my  recollection, 
so  much  as  attempted  to  defend.  In  a  word,  I  write  to  you, 
Rev.  sir,  on  the  present  occasion,  in  the  name  of  our  respectable 
society,  to  ask  you  whether  you  fairly  give  up  these  doctrines  and 
practices  of  Poperj',  as  untenable,  or  otherwise,  whether  you  will 
condescend  to  interchange  a  few  letters  with  me  on  the  subject 
of  them,  for  the  satisfaction  of  me  and  my  friends,  and  with  the 
sole  view  of  mutually  discovering  and  communicating  religious 
truths.  We  remark  that  you  say,  in  your  first  letter  to  Dr. 
Sturges :  "  Should  I  have  occasion  to  make  another  reply  to  you, 
I  will  try  if  it  be  not  possible  to  put  the  whole  question  at  issue 
between  us,  into  such  a  shape  as  shall  remove  the  danger  of  irri- 
tation on  both  sides,  and  still  enable  us  if  we  are  mutually  so 
disposed,  to  agree  together  in  the  acknowledgment  of  the  same 
religious  truths." — If  you  still  think  that  this  is  possible,  for 
God's  sake  and  your  neighbours'  sake,  delay  not  to  undertake 

•  The  Norrisian  profe«v»r  of  dirinitr,  in  the  university  of  Ciwnbridg^e  speak* 
•ng  of  thit  work,  aayB,  ♦«  The  refuUtion  of  the  Popish  errors  it  now  reduced 
into  a  small  compass  by  archbishoD  Seeker  and  bishop  Vortt\it.**-—Lutwu 
inDiviniti/,  Vol.  If.  p.  71. 
4 


Eatay  /« \ 


it.  llie  plan  embraces  every  advantage  we  wish  for,  and  eX'> 
eludes  every  evil  we  deprecate.  You  shall  manage  the  discus- 
sion in  your  own  way,  and  we  will  give  you  as  little  interuption 
as  possible. — ^Two  of  the  essays  above  alluded  to,  with  which 
^  our  wortliy  rector  lately  furnished  us,  I,  with  your  permission, 
enclose,  to  convince  you,  that  genius  and  sacred  literature  are 
cultivated  round  the  Wrekin,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Severn. 

i.i>,-o"itfyo7  w^'^  I  remain.  Rev*  Sir,  with  great  respect,'-     ;     t 
p,   O !  ?v?!  il  \  i  -  Your  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 
.>,{v7.nv,r,,rn;-H:.   .  ..  JAMES  BROWN. 


Kuoi'iy'  .-'"' 


■:U 


i  );\\- 


I'J 


yt3'i  Ji'l;  ,  '{-rciift  ,!!.>[;;.:•■ 


•ji    •ruuiiii-ip' 


Uii 


•;  ^ J. .-:?;•>■; 


OJ^  rjy£  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD,  AND  OF  NATURAL 


ii»  ^•i.'Snr 


RELIGION,   u  ,iu;Jai'  jujjTTjj-r..  ^;«ii'- 
..BY  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  CAREY,  LL.  D.    jV//f/;i  ,ili->. 


''FORESEEING  that  my  health  will  not  permit  me,  for  a 
cbnsiderable  time,  to  meet  my  respected  friends  at  New  Cot- 
tage, I  comply  with  the  request,  which  several  of  them  have 
made  me,  m  sending  them  in  writing,  my  ideas  on  the  two 
noblest  subjects  which  can  occupy  the  mind  of  man  ;  the  ex- 
istence  of  God,  and  the  truth  of  Christianity,  In  doing  this, 
I  profess  not  to  make  new  discoveries,  but  barely  to  state  cer- 
tarn  arguments,  which  I  collected  in  my  youth,  from  the  learned 
Hugo  Grotius,  our  judicious  Clark,  and  other  advocates  of 
natural  and  revealed  religion.  I  offer  no  apology  for  adopting 
the  words  of  Scripture,  m  arguing  with  persons  who  are  sup- 
nosed  not  to  admit  its  anthority,  when  these  express  my  mean- 
ingas  fully  as  any  others  can  do. 

The  first  argument  for  the  existence  of  God,  is  thus  express- 
ed by  the  royal  prophet ;  Know  ye  that  the  Lord  he  is  God:  it 
is  he  that  hath  made  us,  not  we  ourselves,  Ps.  c.  3.  In  fact, 
wher.  1  ask  myself  that  question,  which  every  reflecting  man 
mubt  sometimes  ask  himself :  Now  came  I  into  this  state  of  ex- 
istence ?  Who  has  bestowed  upon  me  the  being  which  I  enjoy  ?  I 
am  forced  to  answer:  It  is  not  I  that  made  myself;  and  each  of 
my  forefathers,  if  asked  the  same  question,  must  have  returned 
the  «amc  answer.     In  like  manner,  if  I  interrogate  the  several 


hein^l 
water,! 
father  f 

IfOU 

ing  e> 
howevi 
hither  \ 
tional 
an  eta 
gent  M 
of  beh 
and  fr^ 
(lei)5ne 
to  the 
proph< 
THA' 
alone 
by  my 
Fro 
of  the 
holine 


1; 


for,  and  eji^-^ 
i;e  the  discus* 
t  interuption 
,  with  which 
r  permission^ 
literature  are 
lie  Severn. 

spect,  i 

servant,        ' 

ROWN. 

Hit    \'i>'i  '■■'i  .i 

^■v  ■^■)  'Mu  !■ 

NATURAL 

it  me,  for  a 
:  NewCot- 
them  have 
on  the  two 
an  ;  the  eX' 
doing  this, 

0  state  cer- 
the  learned 
ivocates  of 
vc  adopting 
ho  are  sup- 

1  my  mean  • 


is  express- 
'  u  God:  it 
,  In  fact, 
cting  man 
Hate  of  eX' 
I  enjoy  ?  I 
id  each  of 
e  returned 
he  several 


•^ 


Efisay  I,  jj 

heings  with  which  I  am  surrounded,  the  earth,  the  aii-,  the 
vater,  the  stars,  the  moon,  the  sun,  each  of  them,  as  an  ancient 
father  says,  will  answer  me,  in  its  turn :  It  was  not  I  that  ma:te 
If  on  ;  /,  like  you,  am  a  creature  of  yesterday^  at  incapable  of^iv' 
ing  existence  to  you,  as  lam  ofgivin^ittj  nr/sc'f.  In  sh  )rt, 
however  often  each  of  us  repeats  the  questi^i:  ffjru  canf  I 
hither  ?  Who  has  made  me  what  I  am  ?  we  shall  never  find  a  ra- 
tional answer  to  them,  till  we  come  to  acknowledge  that  there  is 
an  eternal,  necessary  self-existent  Bein^,  the  author  of  all  contin- 
gent beings,  which  is  no  other  than  GOD.  It  is  this  necessity 
of  being,  this  self-existence,  which  constitutes  the  nature  of  Cio(l, 
and  from  which  all  his  other  perfections  flow.  Hence  when  he 
deigned  to  reveal  himself,  on  the  flaming  mountain  of  Horeb, 
to  the  holy  legislator  of  his  chosen  people,  being  asked  by  this 
prophet,  what  was  his  proper  name?  he  answered:  I  AM 
THAT  I  AM,  Exod,  iii.  14.  This  is  as  much  as  to  say:  / 
alone  exist  of  myself :  ail  others  are  created  beings^  which  exist 
i/if  my  will,  ■-^'■'"'^^  •  -  i-'cn-'  v^v.^yivv*^  «jrer>  w«  -.^.^ju'ii  4u\  \9 

From  this  attribute  of  J^^m^rencf,  all  the  other  perfections 
of  the  Deity,  eternity,  immensity,  omnipotence,  omniscience, 
holiness.  Justice,  mercy,  and  bounty,  each  in  an  infinite  degree, 
necessarily  flow,  because  there  is  nothing  to  limit  his  existence 
and  attributes,  and  because  whatever  perfection  is  found  in  any 
created  being,  must,  like  its  existence,  have  been  derived  froin 
this  universal  source. 

This  proof  of  the  existence  of  God,  though  demonstrative  and 
self-evident  to  reflecting  beings,  is,  nevertheless,  we  have  rea- 
son to  fear,  lost  on  a  great  proportion  of  our  fellow  creatures  ; 
because  they  hardly  reflect  at  all ;  or  at  least,  never  consider, 
10 ho  made  them,  or  what  they  were  made  for ;  but  that  other 
])roof,  which  results  from  the  magnificence,  the  beauty,  and 
the  harmony  of  the  creation,  as  it  falls  under  the  senses,  so  it 
cannot  be  thought  to  escape  the  attention  of  the  most  stupid  o» 
ravage  of  rational  beings.  The  starry  heavens,  the  fulminating 
clouds,  the  boundless  ocean,  the  variegated  earth,  the  organized 
liuman  body,  all  these,  and  many  oiner  phenomena  of  nature, 
must  strike  the  mind  of  the  untutored  savage,  no  less  than  that  o| 
the  studious  philosopher,  with  a  conviction  that  there  is  an  infi- 
nitely poweriul,  wise  and  bountiful  Being,  who  is  the  author  ot 
these  things :  though,  doubtless,  the  latter,  in  proportion  as  he 
Kees  more  clearly  and  extensively  than  the  former,  the  properties 
and  economy  of  different  parts  of  the  creation,  possesses  a 
stronger  physical  evidence,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  exintence  of 
the  great  Creator.     In  fact,  if  the  Pugan  physician,  Gaienf** 

•  I)e  Uku  Part'aim.     » 


6 


Essay    I, 


,3 


\'i 


from  the  imperfect  knowledge  which  he  possessed  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  human  body,  found  himself  compelled  to  acknow- 
ledge the  existence  of  an  infinitely  wise  andbenificent  Being,  to 
make  it  such  as  it  is,  what  would  he  not  have  said,  had  he  been 
acquainted  with  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  the  uses  and 
harmony  of  the  arteries,  veins,  and  lacteals !  If  the  philosophi- 
cal orator,  Tully,  discovered  and  enlarged  on  the  same  truth, 
from  the  little  knowledge  of  astronomy  which  he  possessed,* 
what  strains  of  eloquence  would  he  not  have  poured  forth  upon 
it,  had  he  been  acquainted  with  the  discoveries  of  Galileo  and 
Newton,  relative  to  the  magnitude  and  distances  oi  the  stars, 
the  motions  of  the  planets  and  comets !  Yes,  all  nature  proclaims 
that  there  is  a  Being,  who  is  wise  tnheart  and  mighty  in  strength : 
who  dath  great  things  and  pant  finding  out;  yea^wonders  with- 
out number :— who  stretcheth  out  the  north  over  the  empty  places^ 
and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing,-— The  pillars  of  heaven 
tremble  and  are  astonished  at  his  reprooJl—Lo  !  these  are  a  part 
of  his  ways;  but  how  little  a  portion  is  heard  of  him  !  The  thun- 
der of  his  power  who  can  understand!  Job.  ix. — ^xxvi. 

The  proofs,  however,  of  God^s  existence,  which  can  least  be 
evaded,  are  those  which  come  immediately  home  to  a  man's 
own  heart;  convincing  him,  with  the  same  evidence  he  has  of 
his  own  existence,  that  there  is  an  all-seeing,  infinitely  just,  and 
infinitely  bountiful  Master  above,  who  is  witness  of  all  his  ac- 
tions and  words,  and  of  his  very  thoughts.  For  whence  aiises 
the  heart-felt  pleasure  which  the  good  man  feels  on  resisting  a 
secret  temptation  to  sin,  or  in  performing  an  act  of  benificence, 
though  in  the  utmost  secrecy?  Why  dori  he  raise  his  counte- 
nance to  heaven,  with  devotion,  and  why  is  he  then  prepared  to 
meet  death  with  cheerful  hope,  unless  it  be  that  his  conscience 
tells  him  of  a  munificent  re  warder  of  virtue,  the  spectator  of  what 
he  does?  And  why  does  the  most  hardened  sinner,  tremble  and 
falter  in  his  limbs,  and  at  his  heart,  when  ha  commits  his  most 
secret  sins  of  theft,  vengeance,  or  impurity?  Why,  especially, 
does  he  sink  into  agonies  of  horror  and  diispair  at  the  approach 
of  death,  unless  it  be  that  he  is  deeply  convinced  of  the  constant 
presence  of  an  all-seeing  witness,  and  of  an  infinitely  holy,  pow 
erful,andjust  Judge,  i/}^o  whose  hands  it  in  a  terrible  thing  to  full. 
-—In  vain  docs  he  say:  Darkness  encomft.tsseth  me  and  the  walls 
cover  me:  noonesevth:  ofxviiomamlafraidP — for  his  conscience 
tells  him  that.  The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  far  brighter  than  the  sun, 
beholding  round  about  all  the  x^ays  ffmen,  Eccles.  xxiii.  26,28. 

This  last  argument,  in  particular,  is  so  obvious  and  convinc- 
ing, that  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  there  ever  was  a  hu- 


1 


man! 

perso 

that 

and  1 

dreac 

thatl 

who 

whos 

they 

ing, ' 

nions 

undei 


prop 


*  Ue  Xatura  Deorum.  1.  li. 


Ei'Hiy    I, 


of  the  struc- 
i  to  acknow- 
;ent  Being,  to 
,  had  he  been 
the  uses  and 
3  philosophi- 
;  same  truth, 

possessed,* 
d  forth  upon 

Galileo  and 
of  the  stars, 
ire  proclaims 
in  strength  : 
onders  xvith- 
^mpty  places^ 
's  of  heaven 
te  are  a  part 
/  Thethun" 

can  least  be 
:  to  a  man*s 
ce  he  has  of 
ely  just,  and 
f  all  his  ac- 
iience  arises 
1  resisting  a 
benificence, 
:  his  counte- 
prepared  to 
\  conscience 
atorofwhat 
Lrem!)le  and 
its  his  most 
,  especially, 
le  approach 
the  constant 
'  holy,  pow 
king  to  fall, 
d  the  walls 
3  conscience 
\an  the  sun, 
xiii.  26,28. 
id  convinc- 
r  was  a  hu- 


■ 


; 


man  being,  of  sound  sense,  who  was  really  an  Atheist.  Those 
persons  who  have  tried  to  work  themselves  into  a  persuasion 
that  there  is  no  God,  will  generally  be  found,  both  in  ancient 
and  modem  times,  to  be  of  the  most  profligate  manners,  who, 
dreadingtomeethim  as  their  Judge,  try  to  persuade  themselves 
^at  he  does  not  exist.  This  has  been  observed  by  St.  Austin, 
who  says :  *^  No  man  denies  the  existence  of  Gcd,  but  such  a  one 
whose  interest  it  is  that  there  should  be  no  God."  Yet  even 
they  who  pretend  to  disbelieve  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Be- 
ing, in  the  broad  day-light,  and  among  their  profligate  compa- 
nions, in  the  darkness  and  solitude  of  the  night,  and,  still  more, 
under  the  apprehension  of  death,  fail  not  to  confess  it;  as  Se- 
neca, I  think,  has  somewhere  observed.*  a>i  <i«  >  ^dt  mn  m*w 
A  son  heareth  his  father,  and  a  servant  his  master,  says  the 
prophet  Malachi.  If  then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  mine  honour  ? 
and  if  I  be  a  master,  where  is  my  fear  ?  scith  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
i.  6.  In  a  word:  it  is  impossible  to  believe  in  the  existence  of 
a  Supreme  Being,  our  Creator,  our  Lord,  and  our  Judge,  with- 
out being  conscious,  at  the  same  time,  of  our  obligation  to  wor- 
ship him  exteriorly  and  interiorly,  to  fear  him,  to  love  him,  and 
to  obey  him.  This  constittites  natural  religion :  by  the  observ- 
ance of  which  the  ancient  patriarchs,  together  with  Melchise 
dec.  Job,  and,  we  trust,  very  many  other  virtuous  and  religious 
persons  of  different  ages  and  countries,  have  been  acceptable  to 
God,  in  this  life,  and  have  attained  to  everlasting  bliss,  in  the 
other;  still  we  must  confess,  with  deep  sorrow,  that  the  num- 
ber of  such  persons  has  been  small,  compared  with -those  of  eve- 
ry age  and  nation,  who,  as  St.  Paul  say«,  When  they  knew  God, 
glorified  him  not  as  God;  neither  were  they  thankful,  but  became 
vain  in  their  imaginations;  and  their  foolish  hearts  were  dark- 
ened;— who  changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  and  worshipped 
and  served  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed 
for  ever  more,    Rom.  i.  21,  25. 

SAMUEL  CAREY. 

*  It  is  proper  here  to  observe,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  boastin|f  Athe- 
Uts  who  ugnalized  their  impiety  during  the  late  French  revolution,  when  they 
came  to  die,  acknowledged  that  their  irreligion  had  been  attectcd,  and  thai 
the^  never  doubted,  in  then;  hearts,  of  the  existence  of  God  and  the  truths  ol 
Chnstiaiuty.  Among  these  were  Boulanger,  La  Metrie  onot  ^".'^ihois, 
Egalit^,  duke  of  Orleans,  &c. 


,i('     ,i''.;  %>  > 


.->.-,'rf  i 


>  ,-1 


(O 

...iHLtzTJi]  r. ''.'Hi'i  ^j.'jvl^ti/sT'/Hj  jho-w  oj  husH  .JVSrt  OiiW  «fiq^-19jq[ 
sksh<iii  (ii  thod  ,b.auoi ■;.'•;  vik'stjti ;-•''/  u-iv  .boO  off-ei  ^la/fj  ti;rf' 
,oH'^  ,6*i3iirrfifij  t>U).     1     ESSAY  If#-  «'*  .'-otmi  vr:4.io^i  U'^^ 

i  0^'  THE  TRUTH  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

mv-^   i^i        BY  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  CAREY,  LL.  D.     7.<t    .;^(n: 

THOUGH  the  light  of  nature  is  abundantly  sufficient,  as  I 
trust  I  have  shown  in  my  former  essay,  to  prove  the  existence 
of  God,  and  the  duty  of  worshipping  and  serving  him,  yet  this 
was  not  the  only  light  that  was  communicated  to  mankind  in  the 
first  ages  of  the  world  concerning  these  matters,  since  man>' 
things  relating  to  them  were  revealed  by  God  to  the  patriarchs, 
and,  through  them,  to  their  contemporaries  and  descendants. 
At  length  this  knowledge  was  almost  universally  obliterated 
from  the  minds  of  men,  and  the  light  of  reason  itself  was  so 
clouded  by  the  boundless  indulgence  of  their  passions,  that  thev 
seemed,  every  where,  sunk  almost  to  a  level  with  the  brute 
creation.  Even  the  most  polished  nations,  the  Greeks  and  the 
Romans,  blushed  not  at  unnatural  lusts,  and  boasted  of  the  most 
horrid  cruelties.  Plutarch  describes  the  celebrated  Grecian 
sages,  Socrates,  Plato,  Xenophon,  Cebes,  &c.  as  indulging  free- 
ly in  the  former*  and  every  one  knows  that  the  chief  amuse- 
ment of  the  Roman  people,  was  to  behold  their  fellow  creatures 
murdering  one  another  in  the  amphitheatres,  sometimes  by 
hundreds  and  thousands  at  a  time.  But  the  depravity  and  im- 
pietv  of  the  ancient  Pagans,  and  I  may  say  the  same  of  those  of 
modem  times,  appears  chiefly  in  their  religious  doctrines  and 
worship.  What  an  absurd  and  disgusting  rabble  of  pretended  dei- 
ties,marked  with  every  crime  that  disgraces  the  worst  of  mortals, 
lust,  envy,  hatred  and  cruelty,  did  not  the  above  named  refined 
nations  worship,  and  that,  in  several  instances,  by  the  imitation 
of  their  crimes  !  Plato  allows  of  drunkenness  in  honour  of  the 
gods:  Aristotle  admits  of  indecent  representations  of  them. 
How  many  temples  were  eveiy  where  erected,  and  prdstitutes 
consecrated  to  the  worship  of  Venus  ?f  And  how  generally 
were  human  sacrifices  offered  up  in  honour  of  Moloch,  Saturn, 
Thor,  Diana,  Woden,  and  other  pretended  gods,  or  rather  real 
demons,  by  almost  every  Pagan  nation,  Greek  and  barbarian, 

*  De  Isid  et  Oiirid.  Even  the  refined  Cicero  and  Yirgpl  did  not  blush  at 
these  infaiaies. 

f  Strabo  tells  us,  that  there  were  a  thousand  prostitutes  attached  to  tlie 
temple  of  Venus,  at  Corinth.  The  Athenians  attributed  the  preservation  of 
tlteir  city  to  the  prayers  of  its  prostitutes. 


It  was| 
juake 
ship, 
in  fav 
Nile, 
of  the 
series 
in  the 
phets, 
people 
Mcssi 
I  shall 
firms  1 
testim 
All 
Tiber! 
extrac 
teachi 
lime  a 
than  t 
truths 
then  1 
mauy 
Clod, 
fcrinj: 
and  t 
t'.estii 
fieav( 
nndc 
vine ! 
or  otl 
Terti 
collet 


.im 


Essay  II, 


9 


ntf^Iiom  hat. 
RELIGION', 

ufficient,  as  I 
the  existence 
him,  yet  this 
ankind  in  the 

since  many 
le  patriarchs, 
descendants. 
y  obliterated 
itself  was  8<j 
)ns,  that  they 
th  the  Lrute 
eeks  and  the 
i  of  tlie  most 
ted  Grecian 
lulging  free- 
ihief  amuse- 
•W  creatures 
nrtetimes  by 
nty  and  im- 

of  those  of 
>ctrines  and 
itendeddei- 
t  of  mortals, 
tned  refined 
le  imitation 
«our  of  the 
of  them. 

prbstitutes 
«r  generally 
ch,  Saturn,     ^ 

rather  real 

barbarian, 


s 


not  blush  at 


^ 


and  among  the  rest  by  the  ancient  Britons,  inhabitants  of  this 
island !  It  is  true,  some  few  sages  of  antiquity,  by  listening  to 
the  dictates  of  nature  and  reason,  saw  into  the  absurdity  of  the 
popular  religion,  and  discovered  the  existence  and  attributes  oi 
the  true  God;  but  then  how  unsteady  and  imperfect  was  their 
belief,  even  in  this  point !  and  when  they  knew  God^  they  did 
not  glorify  him  as  God^  nor  give  htm  thanks^  but  became  vain  in 
*heir  thoughts,  Rom.  i.  21.  In  short,  they  were  so  bewilder- 
ed on  the  whole  subject  of  religion,  that  Socrates,  the  wisest  of 
ihem  all,  declared  it "  impossible  for  men  to  discover  this,  un- 
less the  Deity  himself  deigned  to  reveal  it  to  them."f  Indeed 
it  was  an  effort  of  mercy,  worthy  the  great  and  good  God,  to 
jnake  such  a  revelation  of  himself,  and  ot  his  acceptable  wor- 
ship, to  poor,  benighted,  and  degraded  man.  This  he  did,  first, 
in  favour  of  a  poor,  afflicted  captive  tribe  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  the  Israelites,  whom  he  led  from  thence  into  the  country 
of  their  ancestors,  and  raised  up  to  be  a  powerful  nation,  by  a 
series  of  astonishing  miracles,  instructing  and  confirming  them 
in  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  himselt  by  his  different  pro- 
phets. He  afterwards  did  the  same  thing  in  favour  of  all  the 
people  of  the  earth,  and  to  a  far  greater  extent,  by  the  promised 
Messiah,  and  his  apostles.  It  is  to  this  latter  divine  legation 
I  shall  here  confine  my  arguments  :  though  indeed,  the  one  con- 
firms the  other  ;  since  Christ  and  the  apostles  continually  bear 
testimony  to  the  mission  of  Moses. 

All  history,  then,  and  tradition  prove  that  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius,  the  second  Roman  emperor  after  Julius  Csesar,  an 
extraordinary  personage,  Jesua  Christ,  appeared  in  Palestine, 
teaching  a  new  system  of  religion  and  morality,  tar  more  sub- 
lime and  perfect  than  any  which  the  Pagan  philosophers,  or  even 
than  the  Hebrew  prophets,  had  inculcated.  He  confirmed  the 
truths  of  natural  religion  and  of  the  Mosaic  revelation ;  but 
then  he  vastly  extended  their  sphere,  by  the  communication  of 
many  heavenly  mysteries,  concerning  the  nature  of  the  one  true 
Ciod,his  economy  in  redeeming  man  by  his  own  vicarious  suf- 
ferings, the  restoration  and  future  immortality  of  our  bodies, 
and  the  final  decisive  trial  we  are  to  undergo  before  him,  our 
I'.estined  Judge.  He  enforced  the  obligation  of  loving  ou» 
/leavenly  Father,  above  all  things,  of  praying  to  him  continually, 
and  of  referring  all  our  thoughts,  words,  and  actions  to  his  di- 
vine honour.  He  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  denying,  not  one 
or  other  of  our  passions,  as  the  philosophers  had  done,  who,  as 
Tertullian  says,  drove  out  one  nail  with  another  ;  hut  the  whole 
collection  of  them,  disorderly  and  vitiated  as  they  are,  since  the 

f  Plato  Dialog.  Alcihlad. 


10 


Essay  TL 


fall  of  our  first  parent.  In  opposition  to  out  mnate  avarice, 
pride,  and  love  of  pleasure ;  he  opened  his  mission  by  teaching 
fiizty  blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit ;  blessed  are  the  meek  ;  blessed 
are  they  that  mourn^  &?c.  With  respect  to  our  fellow  creatures  ; 
teaching,  as  he  did,  every  virtue,  he  singled  our  fraternal  charity 
for  his  peculiar  and  characteristic  precept ;  requiring  that  his 
disciples  should  love  one  another  as  they  love  themselves,  anH. 
even  as  he  himself  has  loved  them  ;  he  who  laid  down  his  life 
for  them !  and  he  extended  the  obligation  of  this  precept  to  our 
enemies,  equally  with  our  friends. 

Nor  was  the  morality  of  Jesus  a  mere  speculative  system 
of  precepts,  like  the  systems  of  the  philosophers:  it  was  of  a 
practicsJ  nature,  and  he  himself  confirmed,  by  his  example, 
every  virtue  which  he  inculcated,  and  more  particularly  the 
hardest  of  all  others  to  reduce  to  practice,  the  love  of  our  en- 
emies. Christ  had  gone  abouty  as  tne  Sacred  Text  expresses  it, 
^oing  goodU)  ally  Acts  x.  38.  and  evil  to  no  one.  He  had  cured 
the  sick  of  Judeaa;nd  the  neighbouring  countries,  had  given  sight 
to  the  blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and  even  life  to  the  dead ;  but 
above  all  things,  he  had  enlightened  the  minds  of  his  hearers 
with  the  kno«^edge  of  pure  and  sublime  truths,  capable  of  lead- 
ing them  tc  present  and  future  happiness :  yet  was  he  every 
where  calumniated  and  persecuted,  till  at  length,  his  inveterate 
enemies  fulfilled  their  malice  ap^nst  him  by  nailing  him  to  a 
cross,  thereon  to  expire,  by  lengthened  torments.  Not  content 
with  this,  they  came  before  his  gibbet,  deriding  him  in  his  ago- 
ny with  insulting  words  and  gestures.  What,  now,  is  the  return 
which  the  author  of  Christianity  makes  for  such  unexampled 
barbarity?  He  excuses  the  authors  of  it!  He  prays  for  them! 
Father yjorgive  them: for  they  know  not  what  they  do!  Luke  xxiii. 
34.  No  wonder  this  proof  of  supernatural  charity  should  have 
staggered  the  most  nnrdened  infidels;  one  of  whom  confesses 
that,  *^  if  Socrates  has  died  like  a  philosopher,  Jesus  alone  has 
died  like  a  God  !"*  The  precepts  and  the  example  of  the  mas- 
ter have  not  been  lost  upon  his  disciples. — ^These  have  evet 
l)ecn  distinguished  by  their  practice  of  virtue,  and,  particularly, 
by  their  charity  and  forgiveness  of  injuries.  Tlie  first  of  them 
who  laid  down  his  life  for  Christ,  St.  Stephen,  while  the  Jews 
were  stoning  him  to  death,  prayed  thus,  with  his  last  voice, 
Lordy  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge!  Acts  vii.  59. 

Having  considered  the  several  systems  of  paganism,  which 
have  prevailed,  and  that  still  prevail,  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  both  as  to  belief  and  practice,  together  with  the  specula- 
tions of  the  wisest  infidel  philosophers  concerning  them;  and  ha- 


( 


IIouss?au  Gm'ile. 


Essay  IL 


n 


late  avarice, 
by  teaching 
neek  ;  blessed 
•w  creatures ; 
:emal  charity 
ring  that  his 
mselveSf  anr*. 
lown  his  life 
recept  to  our 

ative  system 
:  it  was  of  a 
bis  example, 
ticularly  the 
i^e  of  our  en- 
:  expresses  it, 
[e  had  cured 
d  given  sight 
[le  dead ;  but 
f  his  hearers 
>able  of  lead- 
as  he  every 
lis  inveterate 
ing  him  to  a 
Not  content 
a  in  his  ago- 
,  is  the  return 
unexampled 
js  for  them! 
>/Lukexxiii. 
should  have 
>m  confesses 
us  alone  has 
of  the  mas- 
have  evet 
particularly, 
first  of  them 
lie  the  Jews 
last  voice, 

usm,  which 
parts  of  the 
the  specula- 
lem;  and  ha- 


ing  contemplated,  on  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the  New 
Testament  on  both  of  them,  namely,  theory  and  practice,  1 
,vould  ask  any  candid  believer,  where  he  thought  Jesus  Christ 
:ould  have  acquired  the  idea  of  so  sublime,  so  pure,  so  effica- 
cious a  religion  as  Christianity  is,  especially  when  compared 
with  the  others  above  alluded  to?  Could  he  have  acquired  it  in 
the  workshop  of  a  poor  artisan  of  Nazareth,  or  among  the  fish 
ermen  of  the  lake  of  Genezareth?  Then,  how  could  he  and  his 
poor  unlettered  apostles  succeed  in  propagating  this  religion,  as 
|they  did  diroughout  the  world,  in  opposition  to  all  the  talents 
and  power  of  philosophers  and  princes,  and  all  the  passions  of 
all  mankind?  No  other  answers  can  be  given  to  these  questions, 
than  that  the  religion  itself  has  been  divinely  revealed^  and  that 
it  has  been  divinely  assisted^  in  its  progress  throughout  the 
world. 

In  addition  to  this  internal  evidence  of  Christianity,  as  it  is 
called,  there  are  external  proofs^  which  must  not  be  passed 
over.  Christ,  on  various  occasions,  appealed  to  the  miracles 
which  he  wrought,  in  confirmation  of  his  doctrine  and  mission; 
miracles  public  and  indisputable,  which,  from  the  testimony  oi 
Pilate  himself,  were  placed  on  the  records  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire,* and  which  were  not  denied  by  the  most  determined  ene- 
mies ot  Christianity,  such  9s  Celsus,  Porphyrius,  and  Julian, 
the  apostate.  Among  these  miracles,  there  is  one  of  so  ex- 
traordinary a  nature,  as  to  render  it  quite  unnecessary  to  men- 
tion any  others,  and  which,  therefore,  is  always  appealed  to  by 
the  apostles,  as  the  grand  proof  of  the  gospel  they  preached: 
I  mean  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  deads  to  wnich  must 
be  added  its  circumstances,  namely,  that  he  raised  himself  to 
life  by  his  own  power^  without  the  intervention  of  any  living 
person ;  and  that  he  did  this  in  conformity  with  his  prediction^ 
at  the  time,  which  he  had  appointed  for  this  event,  and  in  defi' 
ance  of  the  efforts  of  his  enemies,  to  detain  his  body  in  the  se- 
pulchre. To  elude  the  evidence  resulting  from  this  unexam- 
pled prodigy,  one  or  other  of  the  following  assertions  must  be 
maintained,  either  that  the  disciples  xvere  deceived  in  believing 
him  to  be  risen  from  the  dead,  or  that  they  combined  to  deceive 
the  world  into  a  belief  of  that  imposition.^Now  it  cannot  be 
credited,  that  they  themselves  were  deceived  in  this  matter, 
being  many  in  number,  and  having  the  testimony  of  their  eyes, 
in  seeing  their  master  repeatedly,  during  forty  days ;  of  their 
ears,  in  hearing  his  voice ;  and  one,  the  most  incredulous  among 
them  of  his  feeling  in  touching"  his  person  and  probing  his 
wounds ;  nor  can  it  be  believed  that  they  conspired  to  propa* 


Tcrtul.  in  Apology. 


12 


Lssay  II, 


he  Lor 
ioMS  of 
in  asto 
That  th 
foot  hav 
•arryini 
louncea 
tpon  us 
xtraorc 
nd  tof 


^nfe  an  uncroalling  falsehood  oi  this  nature  throughout  the  na- 
Vions  of  the  earth,  namely,  that  a  person,  put  to  death  in  JuJfia 
\\\\  risen  again  to  life,  without  any  prospect  to  themselves  for 
this  xvorU^  but  that  of  persecution,  torments,  and  a  cruel  death 
which  they  successively  endured,  as  did  their  numerous  disci 
pies  aftc  r  them,  in  testimony  of  this  fact  j  or^  for  the  other  world^ 
but  the  vengeance  of  the  God  of  truth. 

Next  to  the  miracles,  wrought  bv  Christ,  is  the  fulfilment  ot 
the  ancient  prophecies  concerning  him,  in  proof  of  the  religion 
ta  ight  by  him.  To  mention  a  few  of  these:  he  was  bom  just 
<tftcr  the  sceptre  had  departed  from  the  tribe  ofjfttda^Gen,  xlix, 
lb- ;  at  the  end  of  seventy-two  weeks  of  years  from  the  restora- 
tio.i  of  Jerusalem,  Dan»  ix.  24;  while  the  second  temple  of  Je- 
rusalem was  in  beings  Hagg.ii.  7.  He  was  bom  in  BethleJiem, 
Mic.  V.  2. ;  worked  the  identical  miracles  foretold  ofhim^  Ism, 
XXXV.  5.  He  was  sold  by  his^  perfidious  disciple  for  thirtui 
pieces  of  silver^  which  were  laid  out  in  the  purchase  of  a  pot- 
ter*s  field,^  Zach.  xi.  13.  He  was  scourged^  spit  uporiy  Isai.  1.; 
6. ;  placed  among  malefactors^  Isai.  xxxiii.  12.  His  hands  an(r 
fttt  were  transfixed  with  nails,  Ps,  xxii.  16, ;  and  his  side  was 
'opened  with  a  spear,  Zach,  xii.  10.  Finally,  he  died^  was  bu- 
ried with  honour,  Isai.  liii.  9. ;  and  rose  again  to  life  without 
experiencing  corruption,  Ps.  xvi.  10,  The  sworn  enemies  oi 
Christ,  the  Jews,  were,  during  many  hundred  years  before  his 
coming,  and  still  are  in  possession  of  the  Scriptures,  containing 
these  and  many  other  predictions  concerning  him,  which  were 
strictly  fulfilled,  i'*';',  -/> -»  *.<' j'^juhj  bu-n^t,  aiu  t;i;  ,«yi/-..ui!A 
-  The  very  existence,  and,  other  circumstances  respecting  this 
extrairdinary  people,  the  Jews,  are  so  many  arguments  in 
j.r  )of  of  Christianity.  They  have  now  subsisted,  as  a  distinct 
p^jple,  far  mare  than  four  thousand  years,  during  which  they 
ha/e  agiia  and  again  been  subdued,  harassed,  and  wlmoat  ex- 
tirpated. Their  mighty  conquerors,  the  Philistif^ts,  'he  As- 
syrians, the  Persians,  the  Macedonians,  the  ^  v  '\*ii  ,  ^  ^d  the 
Uomans,  have,  in  their  turns,  ceased  to  exist  and  can  no  where 
l>e  found  as  distinct  nations:  while  the  Jews  ej^st  in  great 
iiujubefe,  and  are  known  in  every  part  of  the  world.  How  can 
liiij.  be  accounted  for?  Why  has  God  preserved  them  alone 
iimongst  the  a-.icient  nations  of  the  earth?  The  truth  is,  they  ceeding 
are  svil!  '&■  .ub/^ct  of  •  rophecy,  with  respect  to  both  the  Olcli  of  them 
and  N.^v  Testament.  They  exist  as  monuments  of  God's lare  gui( 
v/rath  ajraiwi^t  them ;  as  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures  lence. 
which  condemn  them ;  and  as  the  destined  subjectg  of  his  finallbut  alsc 
mercy  before  the  end  of  the  world.  They  are  to  be  found  inStoms  to 
vvi:V\  quarter  of  the  globe;  but  in  the  condition  which  theirlthe  mo! 
g/-jar  ie;3;i il-.it  ir  M  )si*s  threatened  th-Mii  with,  if  thi^y  forsook ■  such  in 


De 

YOU 

subject 

Christia 

man  the 

4i,  15.  1 

commis! 

Hnrhari 

*.  unwil 

pecting 

quiries 

desirou! 

I  must 


Letter  II, 


13 


lehout  the  m  W^^  Lord,  namely,  lAat  he  would  remdve  *hem  into  all  the  king' 
eath  in  Tule  V^'''*  °f^^^  earth,  Deut.  xxviii.  25.  That  they  should  become 
hemselvc//  W!}  <^f^^'^^^^f^^t  <"*^  ^  by-word,  amoi^  all  na//^vs,  ibid.  37. 
iacruelde  thF^**^  they  shoxxld  find  no  ease,  neither  should  the  sole  of  their 
imerous  disc' W^^'  ^^"'^  '^^*''  ^^  ^^'  ^^"^^Xi  ^^^Y  ^^^  every  where  seen,  but 
he  other  worldh^''^?'  '^"?^"  ""J  ^^j*"  foreheads,  the  curse  which  they  pro- 
■Jounced  on  themselves  in  rejecting  their  Messiah:  hts  blood  be 
tfion  us  and  upon,  cur  children.  Mat.  xxvii.  25.  Still  is  this 
xtraordinar<    i>e(.fple  preserved,  to  be,  in  the  end,  convert<:d, 


e  fulfilment  ol 
ot  the  religion 
was  bom  justi 
Wa,Gen.  xlix, 
m  the  restora- 
f  temple  of  Je- 

in  Bethlehem, 
'd  ofhim^  Isal 
pie  for  thirtMi 
chase  of  a  pot- 

upon,  Isai.  1. 
His  hands  arid 
d  his  side  was 

died,  was  bu 
to  life  without 
m  enemies  of 
ars  before  his 
•es,  containing 
I,  which  were 

Bspecting  this 
arguments  in 

as  a  distinct 
g  which  they 
'\  nimost  ex- 
nts.  ifke  As- 
■'■<*n: ,.  •  -.d  the 
can  no  where 
XJst  in  great 
d.     How  can 

them  alone, 
truth  is,  thev 
both  the  Old 
Its  of  God's 
le  Scriptures 


nd  to  f?id  iTicycy^  Rom,  xi.  26,  &c. 


SAMUEL  CAREY. 


I. 

'  3 


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;;; 


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,1. 


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.li;;!iiicn  }!ii.;<  i?^' 


LETTER  II. 

TO  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq,  ^c. 
PRELIMINARIES,    'it 


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Bear  Sir, 


Winton,  October  20,  1801. 


i-Ai 


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tn 


YOU  certainly  want  no  apology  for  writing  to  me  on  the 
subject  of  your  letter.     For  if,  as  St.  Peter  inculcates,  each 
Christian  ought  to  be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  ever\f 
man  that  asketh  h'rm a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  him,  1  Pet, 
lii.  15.  how  inexcusable  would  a  person  of  my  ministry  and 
commission  be,  who  am  a  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the 
Hnrhariahi,,  both  to  the  xviseand  the  unwise,  Rom.  i.  14.  were 
t  unwilling  to  give  the  utmost  satisfaction  in  my  power,  res- 
pecting the  Catholic  religion,  to  any  human  being  whose  in- 
quiries appear  to  proceed  from  a  serious  and  candid  mind, 
desirous  of  discovering  and  embracing  religious  truth,  such  as 
I  must  believe  yours  to  be.     And  yet  this  disposition  is  ex- 
ceedingly rare  among  Christians.      Infinitely  the  greater  part 
of  them,  in  choosing  a  system  ot  religion,  or  m  adhering  to  one, 
are  guided  by  motives  of  interest,  worldly  honour,  or  conveni- 
ence.    These  inducements  not  only  rouse  their  worst  passions, 
ts  of  his  finallbut  also  blind  their  judgement;  so  as  to  create  hideous  phan- 
•  be  found  in  Jtoms  to  their  intellectual  eyes,  and  to  hinder  them  from  seeing 
which  theirjthe  most  conspicuous  objects  which  stand  before  them.     To 
:hey  lorsQokasuch  inconsistent  Christians,  nothing  proves  so  irritating  as  the 


u 


Letter  IL 


attempt  to  disabuse  them  of  their  errors,  except  the  success  oi 
it,  by  putting  it  out  of  their  power  to  defend  them  any  longer. 
These  are  they;  and  O!  how  infinite  is  their  number!  of  whom 
Christ  says,  they  love  darkne^m  rather  than  light^  John  iii,  16.; 
and  who  say  to  the  prophets.  Prophesy  not  unto  us  right  things: 
speak  unto  us  smooth  things,  Isai.  xxx,  10.  They  form  to 
themselves  a  false  conscience,  as  the  Jews  did,  when  they  mur 
dered  their  Messiah,  Acts  iii.  17.;  and  as  he  himself  foretold 
many  others  would  do,  in  murdering  his  disciples,  ^ohn  xvi.  2, 
I  cannot  help  saying  that  I  myself  have  experienced  something 
of  this  spirit,  in  my  religious  discussions  with  persons  wlio 
have  been  loudest  in  professing  their  candour  and  charity. 
Hence,  I  make  no  doubt  that,  if  the  elucidation  which  you  call 
for  at  my  hands,  for  your  numerous  society,  should  happen, 
by  any  means  to  become  public,  that  I  shall  have  to  eat  the 
bread  of  affliction,  and  drink  the  water  of  tribulation,  1  Kings 
xxii.  27.  for  this  discharge  of  my  duty,  perhaps  for  the  remain- 
d -r  of  my  life.  But,  as  the  apostle  writes,  none  of  these  things 
move  me;  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  to  me,  so  that  I  may 
finish  my  course  with  Joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  re- 
ceived from  the  Lord  Jesus.  Acts  xx.  24. 

It  remains,  sir,  to  settle  the  conditions  of  our  correspondence. 
What  I  propose  is,  that,  in  the  first  place,  we  should  mutually, 
aid  indeed  all  of  us  who  are  concerned  in  this  friendly  contro- 
versy, be  at  perfect  liberty  to  speak,  without  offence  to  any  one, 
of  doctrines,  practices,  and  persons,  as  we  judge  best  for  the 
discovery  of  truth:  secondly,  that  we  should  be  disposed,  in 
common,  as  far  as  poor  human  nature  will  permit,  to  investi- 
gite  truth  with  impartiality;  to  acknowledge  it,  when  disco- 
vered, with  candour ;  and,  of  course,  to  renounce  every  error 
and  unfounded  prejudice  that  may  be  detected,  on  any  side, 
whatever  it  may  cost  us  in  so  doing.  I,  for  my  part,  dear  sir, 
here  solemnly  promise,  that  I  will  publicly  renounce  the  reli- 

§ion,  of  which  1  am  a  minister,  and  will  induce  as  many  of  mv 
ock,  as  I  may  have  influence  over,  to  do  the  same,  should  it 
prove  to  be  that  "mass  of  absurdity,  bigotry,  superstition,  ido- 
latry, and  immorality,"  which  you,  sir,  and  most  Protestants 
conceive  it  to  be ;  nay,  even  if  I  should  not  succeed  in  clearing 
it  of  these  respective  charges.  To  religious  controversy,  when 
originating  in  its  proper  motives,  a  desire  of  serving  God  and 
securing  our  salvation,  I  cannot  declare  myself  an  enemy,  with- 
out virtually  condemning  the  conduct  of  Christ  himself,  who, 
on  every  occasion,  arraigned  and  refuted  the  errors  of  the  Pha- 
risees :  but  I  cannot  conceive  any  hypocrisy  so  detcatable  as  that 
of  ascending  the  pulpit  or  employing  the  pen  on  sacred  subjects 
to  serve  our  temporal  interest,  our  resentment,  or  our  prido, 


under  pi 
inquirer 
as  I  hav 
dinary  t 
I  the  latte 
I  spoke 
ion  the  p 
Iback  the 
:tance;a 


Lettet,  lUA 


15 


Jc  success  oil 
■i  any  longer.! 
)er!ofwhom 
lohniii.  16.; 
'ig'ht  things: 
'hey  form  to 
en  they  mur 
self  foretold 
John  xvi.  2. 
a  something 
persons  wlio 
md  charity, 
lich  you  call 
uld  happen, 
^e  to  eat  the 
oriy  1  Kings 

the  remain- 
these  thing's 

that  I  may 
h  I  have  re- 

espondence. 
d  mutually, 
ndly  contro- 
e  to  any  one, 
best  for  the 
disposed,  in 
:,  to  investi- 
v^hen  disco- 
every  error 
n  any  side, 
irt,  dear  sir, 
ice  the  reli- 
many  of  mv 
e,  should  it 
stition,  ido- 
Protcstants 
I  in  clearing 
i^ersy,  when 
ig  God  and 
lemy,  with- 
mself,  who, 
of  the  Pha- 
table  as  that 
cd  subjects 
our  pride, 


kinder  ptelexl  ot  promoting  or  defending  rerigious  truth. — To 
inquirers,  in  the  former  predicament,  I  hold  myself  a  debtor, 
as  I  have  already  said ;  but  the  circumstances  must  be  extraor- 
dinary to  induce  me  to  hold  a  communication  with  jpeisono  in 
the  latter.  Lastly,  as  you  appear,  sir,  to  approve  of  the  plan  I 
spoke  of  in  my  first  letter  to  Dr.  Sturges,  I  mean  to  pursue  it 
on  the  present  occasion.  This,  however,  will  necessarily  throw 
back  the  examination  of  your  charges  to  a  considerable  dis« 
tance ;  as  several  other  important  inquiries  must  precede. 


I  am,  &c. 


J.  M. 


J 


LETTER  III. 

From  JAMES  BROWN,  Eaq.  to  the  Rrv.  /.  M,  D,  D. 
PRELIMINARIES. 

New  Cottage^  Oct,  30,  1801, 
Reverend  Sir,  , 

I  HAVE  been  favoured,  in  due  course,  with  yours  of  the 
^th  instant,  which  I  have  communicated  to  those  persons  of 
our  society,  whom  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing.  No 
circumstance  could  strike  us  with  greater  sorrow,  than  mat  you 
should  suffer  any  inconvenience  from  your  edifying  promptness 
to  comply  with  our  well  meant  request,  and  we  conndently  trust 
that  nothing  of  the  kind  will  take  place  through  our  fault.  We 
ajjrcc  with  you,  as  to  the  necessity  of  perfect  freedom  of  speech, 
wliere  the  discovery  of  important  truths  is  the  real  object  of 
inquiry.  Hence,  while  we  are  at  liberty  to  censure  many  of 
your  popes,  and  other  clergy,  Mr.  Topham  will  not  be  offended 
with  any  thing  that  you  can  prove  against  Calvin;  nor  will  Mr, 
Rankin  quarrel  with  you  for  exposing  the  faults  of  George  Fox 
and  James  Naylor;  nor  shall  I  complain  of  you  for  any  thing 
that  you  can  make  out  against  our  venerable  Latimer  or  Cran- 
mer ;  I  say  the  same  of  doctrines  and  practices,  as  of  persons. 
If  you  are  guilty  of  Idolatry,  or  we  of  heresy,  we  are  respec- 
tively unfortunate,  and  the  greatest  charity  we  can  do,  is  to 
point  out  to  each  other  the  danger  of  our  respective  situations, 
to  their  full  extent.  Not  to  renounce  error  and  embrace  truth 
6 


16 


Letter  IF.. 


v\ 


of  every  kind,  when  we  clearly  see  it,  would  be  folly ;  and  tol 
neglect  doing  this,  when  the  question  is  about  religious  truth, 
would  be  folly  and  wickedness  combined  together.  Finally, 
we  cheerfully  leave  you  to  follow  what  course  you  please,  and 
to  whatever  extent  you  please,  provided  you  only  give  us  such 
satisfaction  as  you  can  give,  on  the  subjects  I  mentioned  in  my 
former  letter. 

'    ''  v•'^:i,-^^■'     .     ;;  '    I  am,  Rev.  Sir,  &r. 

i'  JAMES  BROWN. 


."'» 


u 

: 


LETTER  IV. 

To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq,  ^e, 
DISPOSITIONS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  INSipiRT, 

Dear  Sir, 

THE  dispositi3ns  which  you  profess,  on  the  part  of  your 
friends,  as  well  as  yourself,  I  own,  please  me,  and  animate  me 
t)  undertake  the  task  you  impose  upon  me.  Nevertheless, 
availing  myself  of  the  liberty  of  speech  which  you  and  your 
friends  allow  me,  I  am  forced  to  observe  that  there  is  notning 
in  which  msn  are  more  apt  to  deceive  themselves,  than  in  think- 
ing themselves  to  be  free  from  religious  prejudices,  and  sincere 
in  seeking  after,  and  resolved  to  embrace  and  follow  the  truth 
of  religion,  in  opposition  to  their  preconceived  opinions  and 
wordly  interests.  How  many  imitate  Pilate,  who,  when  he 
had  asked  our  Saviour  the  question,  What  is  truth?  presently 
went  out  of  his  company,  before  he  could  receive  an  answer  to 
it!  John  xviii.  38.  How  many  others  resemble  the  rich  young 
mtin,  who,  having  interrogated  Christ,  What  good  thinj^  shall 
I  do  that  Imaif  huve  eternal  life?  when  this  divins  master  an- 
swered hitn.  If  thou  wilt  he  perfect^  go  and  sell  what  thou  hast 
and  give  to  the  poor ; — went  away  sorrowful!  Mat.  xix.  22.  Fi- 
nftUy,  how  many  more  act  like  certain  presuir.p«^uous  disciples 
ot  our  Lord,  who,  when  he  had  propounded  to  them  a  mystery 
beyond  their  conception,  that  of  tne  real  presence,  in  these 
words,  Afif  Hesh  is  meat  indeed^  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed:-" 


Letter  IV. 


If 


;  folly;  and  to^s^;^^  this  is  a  hard  saying";  who  can  hear  it? — and  went  back 
eljgious  truth,  and  walked  no  more  with  him/  John  vi.  56.  O!  if  all  Christians, 
her.  Finally,  ^jf  ^^g  different  sects  and  opinions,  were  but  possessed  of  the 
ou  please,  and  i  sincerity,  disinterestedness,  and  earnestness,  to  serve  their  God, 
y  ^ive  us  such  and  save  their  souls,  which  a  Francis  Walsingham,  kinsman  to 
sntioned  m  my  t|^g  great  statesman  of  that  name,  a  Hugh  Paulin  Cressy,  dea 
of  Laughlin,  and  prebendary  of  Windsor,  and  an  Anthon 
"  :  Ulric,  duke  of  Brunswick  and  Lunenburgh,  prove  themselves 

]  to  have  been  possessed  of;  the  first,  in  his  Search  into  Matters 
BROWN,  cf  Religion;  the  secorfd,  in  his  Exomologcsis^  or  Motives  of 
Convemion^  ^c;  and  the  lust,  in  his  Fifty  Reasons;  how  soon 
wo  aid  all  and  everv  one  of  our  controversies  cease,  and  we  be 
all  united  in  one  faith,  hope,  and  charity!  I  will  here  transcribe, 
from  the  preface  to  the  Ffiy  Reasons^  what  the  illustrious  rela- 
tive of  his  majesty  says,  concerning  the  dispositions,  with  which 
he  set  about  mquiring  into  the  grounds  and  differences  of  the 
several  systems  of  Christianit) ,  whrn  he  began  to  entertain 
doubts  concerning  the  truth  of  that  in  which  he  had  been  edu- 
cated ;  namely,  Lutheranism.  He  says,  "First,  I  earnestly  im- 
pl jred  the  aid  and  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  all  my 
power,  begged  the  light  of  true  faith,  from  God,  the  father 
of  lights,"  &c.  "  Secondly,  I  made  a  strong  resolution,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  to  avoid  sin,  well  knowing  that  Wisdom  wiil  not 
eiter  into  a  corrupt  mindy  nor  dwell  in  a  body  subject  to  sin^* 
Wisd.  i.  4.  "and  I  am  convinced,  and  was  so  then,  that  the  rea- 
son why  80  many  are  ignorant  of  the  true  faith,  and  do  not  em- 
brace  it,  is  because  they  are  plunged  into  several  vices,  and  par- 
Nevertheless,  5  ticuhrly  into  carnal  sins."  Then,  "Thirdlj',  I  renounced  all 
'""  ««'!  -  gy^jg  ^J£  prejudices,  whatever  they  were,  which  incline  men  to 

o  le  religion  more  than  another,  which  unhappily  I  might  have 
foinurly  espoused,  and  I  brought  myselfto  a  perfect  indifference, 
s  )  Hi  to  be  ready  to  embrace  whichsoever  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
G'if>st,  and  the  light  of  reason,  should  point  out  to  me,  without 
an.-  rec;ard  to  th^  advantages  and  inconveniences,  that  might 
attend  it  in  this  world."  '•  Lastly,  I  entered  upon  this  delibera- 
tion and  this  choice,  in  the  manner  ]  should  wish  to  have  done 
it,  at  the  hour  of  my  death,  and  in  a  full  conviction  that,  at  the 
le  rich  young  Iday  of  judgment,  1  must  give  an  account  to  God,  why  I  fol- 
jd  tiling  shall  |  lowed  this  religion  in  preference  to  all  the  rest,"  The  princely 
inquirer  finishes  this  account  of  himself  with  the  following  aw- 
ful reilections  :  Man  has  but  one  soul,  which  will  he  eternally 
either  damned  or  saved.  What  doth  it  avail  a  man  to  gain  the 
v'hule  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?  Matt.  xvi.  26,  Eternity 
knows  no  end.  The  course  of  it  is  perpetual.  It  is  a  series 
of  unlimited  duration.  There  is  no  comparison  between  things 
infinite  and  those  which  are  not  so.      O!  the  happiness  of  Uit 

C 


liumr. 


part  of  your 
d  animate  me 
Nevertheless, 
i^ou  and  your 
ere  is  nothing 

than  in  think- ; 

s,  and  sincere 
low  the  truth 

opinions  and 
vho,  when  he 
th?  presently 

an  answer  to 


ns  master  an- 
hat  thou  hnst 
t.  xix.  22.  Fi- 
lous  disciples 
m  a  mystery 
nee,  in  these 
ink  indeed;— 


la 


Letter  V. 


I 


I 


ifi'ii 


l<\ 


hi! 


eterni^  of  Ae  samts !  O !  the  wretchedness  of  the  eternity  of  the 
damned.     One  of  these  two  eternities  awaits  us!" 

,..q  t-itt^^-sw  ,s«v>f.:  I  remain,  Sir,  yours,  &c. 

'  "ft'^fi;;  ■JV'T-' «t,i.'  )'~'j/-?rri-;r)?^   :-^<?^^Kiva-i-' ■)-?'> tf!\' 


»■ 


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J.M. 


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{J  If: 
-rib-? 


>•< 


LETTER  V. 

To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq, 


■■</• 


.  t'f'. 


v. 


•j.  I 


./^ 


METHOD  OF  FINDING  OUT  THE  TRUE 

RELIGION. 


'jti  I,- J, (I 


Dkar  Sir, 


:h 


■h 


I  T 


IT  18  obvious  to  common  sense,  that,  in  order  to  find  cut! 
•ny  hidden  thing,  or  to  do  any  difficult  thing,  we  must  first 
discover,  and  then  follow,  the  proper  method  for  such  purpose. 
If  we  do  not  take  the  right  road  to  any  distant  place,  it  cannot 
be  expected  that  we  should  arrive  at  it.    If  we  get  hold  of  a 
wrong  clue,  we  shall  never  extricate  ourselves  from  a  labyrinth. ; 
Some  persons  choose  their  religion  as  they  do  their  clothes,  byf 
fancy.     They  are  pleased,  for  example,  with  the  talents  of  a  \ 
preacher,  when  presently  they  adopt  his  creed.     Many  adhere  \ 
to  their  religious  system,  merely  because  they  were  educated] 
in  it,  and  because  it  was  that  of  their  parents  and  family ;  which,  ij 
if  it  were  a  reasonable  motive  for  their  resolution,  would  equally 
excuse  Jews,  Turks,  and  Pagans,  for  persisting  in  their  respec- 
tive impiety,  and  would  impeach  the  preaching  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles!    Others  glory  in  their  religion,  because  it  is  the 
one  established  in  this  their  country,  so  renowned  for  science,  I 
literature,  and  arms :  not  reflecting  that  the  polished  and  con 
auering  nations  of  antiquity,  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Per- 
sians, Greeks,  and  Romans,  were  left,  by  the  inscrutable  judg- 
ments of  God,  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death^  while  a  poor 
oppressed  and  despised  people  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  were 
the  only  depositary  of  divine  truth,  and  the  sole  truly  enlighten- 
ed nation.  But,  far  the  greater  part  even  of  Christians,  of  every 
denomination,  make  the  business  of  eternity  subservient  to  that 
of  time,  and  profess  the  religion  which  suits  best  their  interest, 
their  reputation,  and  their  convenience       I  trust  that  none  d 


Letter  V: 


19 


eternity  of  thcl 

'ours,  &c. 
J.  M. 


•   '        ■  .  ■ .  1 


i-     .A.S. 


A 


:  TRUE 


er  to  find  cut 
wre  must  first 
such  purpose, 
lace,  It  cannot  \ 
get  hold  of  a 
ma  labyrinth, 
ir  clothes,  by 
I  talents  of  a 
Many  adhere  | 
ere  educated  L 
mily ;  which,  i 
^ould  equally  ; 
their  respec- 
^  Christ  and 
luse  it  is  the 
for  science, 
td  and  con 
y^rians,  Per- 
Litablcjudg. 
ivhilc  a  poor  j 
ordan,  were    | 
y^  enlighten-   " 
ns,  of  every 
/lent  to  that    ' 
eir  interest,    \ 
bat  none  (7    i 


your  respectable  society  fall  under  any  of  ttiese  descriptions.  They 
all  have,  or  fancy  they  have,  a  rational  method  of  discovering 
religious  truth,  in  other  words  an  adequate  ruZe  of /«i/A.  Before 
I  enter  into  any  disquisition  on  this  all-important  controversy, 
concerning  the  right  rule  of  faith,  on  which  the  determination 
of  every  other  depends,  1  will  lay  down  three  fundamental  maxims 
the  truth  of  which,  I  believe,  no  rational  Christian  will  dispute. 

First,  our  divine  master,  Christ,  in  estahlialnng  a  reUgion  here  on 
earth,  to  which  all  the  nations  of  it  were  invited.  Matt,  xviii.  19,  left 
some  RULE  or  method,  hy  which  those  persons,  tchich  sincerely  seek 
for  it,  may  cert aiiily  find  it. 

Secondly,  this  rule  or  method.,  mvs*  he  SKCURE  and  ncrer^failing  ; 
so  as  not  to  he  ever  liable  to  lead  a  rational,  sincere  inquirer,  into 
error,  impiety^  or  immorality^  of  any  kind. 

Thirdly,   This  rule  or  method  must  be  UNIVERSAL,  that  is  to 
say,  adapted  to  the  abilities  and  otihcr  circumstances,  of  all  those 
persons,  for  whom   the   religion   itself  was  intended ;   namely  //if  _ 
great  bulk  of  mankind. 

By  adhering  to  these  undeniable  maxims,  we  shall  quicl^ly, 
dear  sir,  and  clearly,  discover  the  method  appointed  by  Christ 
for  arriving  at  the  knowledge  of  the  truths  which  he  has  taught, 
in  other  words,  at  the  right  rule  of  faith.  Being  possessed  of  this 
rule,  we  shall  have  nothing  else,  of  course,  to  do  thnn  to  make  use 
of  it,  for  securely,  and,  I  trust,  amicably,  settling  all  our  contro- 
versies. This  is  the  short  and  satisfactory  method  of  composing 
religious  diflerences,  which  I  alluded  to  in  my  above  mentioned 
letter  to  Dr.  Sturges.  To  discuss  them  all,  separately,  is  an  endless 
ta^tk,  whereas  this  method  reduces  them  to  a  single  question. 

5*  Jam,  &c.        •-*  '^'■ 

'•  ■■?'■"      •■•  ■•••  ;nf  -A<yAi-  t^  .  J.  M. 


,'   7 


'..* 


1'  .■  I        I. 


■»    fii..     i' iiV^^i  \*  1,    ,\iUtk>„i   f'.'iiitii   i«» 
'■    '  ''■    '  <''<     '     i   '   »■.  •.•m;  i.'^n  li,fi;S-^ 

.'  ';■.■■;',    i   .  ;  r:    irr-r.Ui  ,t*iifj 

■'  '      .-•  :•  >'!>./-■  ';.!  [ 

•        1      '   r   ■•    '       :.■..■;     'l\\\   _»   ,     f j 
■  •'■•   "     •   .       .  •  '.1.  .    ^      ''.','•/-:)   I    iii|,' 


'k 


C     20     ),^ 


'■^^'''''    "•    •.         LETTER  VI.     '.''•'■-■■^:.r.. '-.r 

lloiili,;!,;    .  -  ,        r_      ..  .       ^ 

).av.^.  i      -       yO  /w«A/i:5^  BROWN,  Esq, 


■  V 


TffE  jP/i?.9T  FALLACIOUS  RULE  OF  FAFFIL 


Dear  Sir, 


<  '-* 


AMONG  serious  Christians,  who  profess  to  ,nake  the  di?- 
covcry  and  practice  of  religion  their  first  and  earnest  care, 
three  different  methods  or  rules  have  been  adopted  f(jr  this 
purpose.  The  first  consists  in  a  supposed  private  inspiration^ 
or  an  immediate  light  and  motion  of  God's  spirit,  comnuini- 
cated  to  the  individual.  This  was  tne  rule  of  faith  and  con- 
duct formerly  professed  by  the  Montanists,  the  Anabaptists, 
the  Family  of  Love,  and  is  now  professed  by  the  Quakers,  the 
Moravians,  and  different  classes  of  the  Methodists.  The  se- 
cond of  these  rules  is  the  written  Word  of  God^  or  THE  BI- 
BLE, according  as  it  is  understood  by  each  particular  ri-adcr 
er  hearer  of  it.  This  is  the  professed  rule  of  the  more  regu- 
lar sects  of  Protestants,  such  as  the  Lutherans  the  Calvinists, 
the  Socinians,  the  Church  of  England  men.  The  third  rule  is 
THE  WORD  OF  GOD,  at  large,  xvhether  written  in  the 
Bible^  or  handed  down  from  the  apostles  in  continued  succession 
by  the  Catholic  church,  and  as  it  is  understood  and  explained 
lyy  this  church.  To  speak  more  accurately,  besides  thtir  rule 
of  faith,  namely.  Scripture  and  tradition.  Catholics  acknow- 
ledge an  unerring  judge  of  controversy,  or  sure  guide  in  all 
matters  relating  to  ssdvation,  namely,  THE  CHURCH.  I 
shall  now  proceed  to  show  that  the  first  mentioned  rule,  iiamt  - 
ly,  a  supposed  private  inspiration,  is  quite  fallacious,  in  as 
much  as  it  is  liable  to  conduct,  afid  has  conducted  many,  into  ac- 
knowledged errors  and  impiety. 

About  the  middle  of  the  second  age  of  Christianity,  Monta- 
nus,  Maximilla  and  Priscilla,  with  their  followers,  by  adopt- 
ng  this  enthusiastical  rule,  rushed  into  the  excess  of  folly  and 
lasphemy.     They  taught  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  having  failed  to 
ave  mankind,  by  Moses,  and  afterwards  by  Christ,  had  en- 
lightened and  sanctified  them  to  accomplish  this  great  work. 
The  strictness  of  their  precepts,  and  apparent  sanctity  of  their 
lives,  deceived  many,  till  at  length  the  two  former  proved  what 
{.pirit  they  were  guided  by,  in  hanging  themselves.*     Several 


*  Euseb.  Eccles.  Hist.  I.  v.  c.  1  J. 


Letter  VU 


t* 


»ke  the  (lis- 
rnest  care, 
ed  for  this 
impirathn^ 

comnumi- 
h  and  con- 
inabaptists, 
uakers,  the 
.     The  se- 

THE  Bf. 
liar  reader 
more  regu- 
Calvinists, 
lird  rule  is 
tten  in  the 

sucvesaion 
(  explaiui'ci 

thtir  rule 
s  acknov- 
uidc  in  all 
JRCH.  I 
ule,  namt  - 
aus,  in  as 
y^  into  ar- 

y,  Monta- 
hy  adopt- 
folly  and 
[J  failed  to 
,  had  en- 
eat  work, 
y  of  their 
>ved  what 
Several 


ther  heretics  became  dupes  of  the  saiuc  principles  in  the  pri- 
nitive  and  the  middle  ages ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  the  time 
iof  religious  licentiousness,  improperly  called  the  Reformation, 
to  display  the  full  extent  of  its  absurdity  and  impiety.  In  less 
than  five  years  after  Luther  had  sounded  the  trumpet  of  evan- 
gelical liberty,  the  sect  of  Anabaptists  arose  in  Germany  and 
the  I^ow  Countries.  They  professed  to  hold  immediate'com- 
munication  with  God,  and  to  be  ordered  by  him  to  despoil  and 
kill  all  the  wicked,  and  to  establish  a  kingdom  of  the  just,*  who, 
to  become  such,  were  all  to  be  rebaptized.  Carlostad,  Luther^s 
first  disciple  of  note,  embraced  this  UUra-ReJormation  ;  but  its 
acknowledged  head,  during  his  reign,  was  John  Bockhold,  a 
taylor  of  Leyden,  who  proclaimed  himself  king  of  Sion,  suid 
who,  during  a  certain  time,  was  really  sovereign  of  Munster, 
in  Lower  Germany,  where  he  committed  the  greatest  imaRina> 
ble  excesses,  marrying  eleven  wives  at  a  time,  and  putting  them, 
and  numberless  other  of  his  subjects  to  death,  at  the  motion  of 
his  supposed  interior  spirit.f  He  declared  that  God  had  made 
him  a  present  of  Amsterdam  and  other  cities,  which  he  sent 
parties  of  his  disciples  to  take  possession  of.  These  ran  naked 
through  the  streets,  howling  out,  "  Wo  to  Babylon  ;  wo  to  the 
wicked  ;"  and,  when  they  were  apprehended,  and  on  the  point 
of  being  executed  for  their  seditions  and  murders,  they  sung 
and  danced  on  the  scaffold,  exulting  in  the  imaginary  light  of 
their  spirit.t  Herman,  another  Anabaptist,  was  moved  by  his  spi- 
rit to  declare  himself  the  Messiah,  and  thus  to  evangelize  the  peo- 
ple, his  hearers :  "  Kill  the  priests,  kill  all  the  magistrates  in  the 
world  :  repent :  your  redemption  is  at  hand."§  One  of  their 
chief  and  most  accredited  preachers,  David  George,  persuaded 
a  numerous  sect  of  them,  that  "  the  doctrine  both  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  was  imperfect,  but  that  his  own  was  peri 
fi'ct,  and  that  he  was  the  true  Son  of  God,^''H  I  do  not  notice 
these  impieties  and  other  crimes  for  their  singularity  or  their 
atrociousness,  but  because  they  were  committed  upon  the prin- 
iiple  and  under  a  full  conviction  of  an  individual  and  uncon- 
trolable  inspiration,  on  the  part  of  their  dupes  and  perpetra- 
tors. 

Nor  has  our  own  country  been  more  free  from  this  enthusi- 
astic principle  than  Germany  and  Holland.     Nicholas,  a  disci* 

.  I  .  ^  ft 

•  *'  Cum  Deo  colloquium  esse  et  mandatum  habere  sc  dicebant,  ut,  impiis 
omnibus  interfectis,  novum  constituerent  mundum,  in  quo  pii  solum  et  inno- 
ccntcs  vivercnt  et  rcruni,  potircntur." — Sleidan.  De  Stat.  Rel.  et  Reip.  Com- 
niCMt  1.  iii.  p.  45. 

f  Hist.  Abrep.  d*  la  Reform,  par  Gerard  Brandt,  torn.  i.  p.  46.  Mosheim, 
F.cclcs  Uist.  by  M.iclaiiic,  vol.  iv.  p.  452. 

i  Brandt,  p,  49,  8(c.     ^     ^  Brandt,  p.  51.  i  Mothclm,  vol.  iv.  p.  484, 


«2 


Letter,  VL 


m 

I 


{»le  of  the  above  mentioned  David  George,  came  over  to  En,v^- 
and  with  a  supposed  commission  from  God  to  teach  men  that 
the  essence  of  religion  consists  in  the  feelings  of  divine  love, 
and  that  all  other  things  relating  either  to  faitn  or  worship,  are 
of  no  moment.*  He  extended  this  maxim  even  to  the  funda- 
mental precepts  of  morality,  professing  to  continue  in  sm  that 
grace  might  abound.  His  followers,  under  the  name  of  the 
FamllistSy  or  The  Family  ofLove^  were  very  numerous  at  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  about  which  time,  Hacket,  a  Cal- 
vinist,  giving  way  to  the  same  spirit  of  delusion,  became  deeply 
persuaded  that  the  spirit  of  the  Messiah  had  descended  u]  on 
him  ;  and,  having  made  several  proselytes,  he  sent  two  of  them, 
Aithingtou  and  Coppinger,  to  procldim  through  the  streets  of 
London,  that  Christ  was  come  thither  with  his  fan  in  his  hand. 
This  spirit,  instead  of  being  repressed,  became  still  more  un- 
governable at  the  sight  of  the  scaffold  and  the  gibbet,  prepared 
m  Chcapside  for  his  execution.  Accordingly  he  continued  till 
tlie  last,  exclaiming, "  Jehova,  Jehova ;  don't  you  see  the  hea- 
vens open,  and  Jesus  coming  to  deliver  me,  &c."f  Who  has 
not  heard  of  Venner,  and  his  Fifth  Monarchy-men,  who,  guid- 
ed by  the  same  private  spirit  of  inspiration,  rushed  from  their 
meeting  house  in  Coleman  street,  proclaiming  that  they  would 
•*  acknowledge  nosovereiv, .  but  king  Jesus,  and  that  they  would 
not  sheathe  their  swords,  till  they  had  made  Babylon  (that  is 
monarchy)  a  hissing  and  a  curse,  not  only  in  England,  but  also 
throughout  foreign  countries  ;  having  an  assurance  that  one  ot 
them  would  put  a  thousand  enemies  to  flight,  and  two  of  them 
ten  thousand  r"  Venner  being  "  taken  and  led  to  execution, 
V  ith  several  of  his  followers,  protested  it  was  not  he,  but  Jesus, 
who  had  acted  as  their  leader.":|:  I  pass  over  the  unexampltd 
follies  and  the  horrors  of  the  grand  rebellion,  having  det  liled 
many  of  them  elsewhere."^  It  is  enough  to  remark  that,  while 
many  of  these  were  committed  from  the  licentiousness  rf  pii- 
vate  interpretation  of  Scripture,  many  others  originat  d  in .  th  • 
enthusiastic  opinion  which  1  am  now  combating,  that  (fan  im- 
mediate individual  inspiration,  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  that  ot 
the  Scriptures  themselvesH 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  religious  and  civil  commotions 
that  the  most  extraordinary  people  of  all  those  who  have  adopt- 
ed the  fallacious  rule  of  private  inspiration,  started  up  at  the  call 
of  George  Fox,  a  shoe-maker  of  Leicestershire.     His  funda 

•  Ibid.  Brandt. 

,    t  Fuller's  Church  Hist.  b.  ix.  p.  113.    Stow's  Annals,  A.  D.  1591, 

♦  Echanl's  Hist,  of  Eiig.  &c. 

<&  Letters  to  a  Prebendury.     Reig-n  of  Charles  T. 

I  Sec  the  rcinoj'kable  hiiitury  of  tlic  uiilitarv  pn  achrri  at  Kingston.    Ibid 


lental 

lowers,^ 

ry  rule 

nute  to 

certain! 

which  t 

vealed : 

tered  in 

own  sp 

sons."§ 

Quakei 

as  recoi 

Geor 

sion  he 

(churcl 

^  leave  of] 

to  the  I 

of  his  s 

constitu 

ferent  p 

pies,  "W 

several 

as  a  sig 

houses, 

be  alls 

don  wa 

wiih  a 

Friend 

into  W 

•  Kobe 
t  Prop 
yricnds, 

fritm .  the 

lamed  in 

i  I'ron 

n  Sec  'l 

i    disciple  1 

5  I    8h! 

Charles  I 
Ijy  victor 
swovd  in 
drums,  a 
l)e  iiic()( 
of  the  CI 
niornih, 
threw  til 
kc.  <i. 
••Jo« 


Letter  VI, 


23 


>ver  to  Enjj- 
ch  men  that 
divine  love, 
worship,  are 
:o  the  funcla- 
e  in  sin  that 
name  of  the 
lerous  at  the 
jcket,  a  Cal- 
icame  deeply 
cended  ujon 
two  of  them, 
:he  streets  of 
in  his  hand. 
;ill  more  un- 
>et,  prepared 
lontinued  till 
see  the  hea- 
t  Who  has 
1,  who,  guid- 
d  from  their 
t  they  would 
t  they  woidd 
ylon  (that  is 
ind,  but  also 
5  that  one  ot 
two  of  them 
:o  execution, 
e,  but  Jesus, 
unexampled 
'ing  det liltd 
k  that,  while 
sness  (  f  pi  i- 
nat  d  in .  th  • 
lat  (fan  im- 
ior,  to  that«»i 

commotions 

have  adopt- 

up  at  the  call 

His  funda 


1591. 


ing^ton.    Ibid 


ental  propositions,  as  laid  down  by  the  most  able  of  his  fol. 
owers,*  are,  that, "  The  Scriptures  are  not  the  adequate  prima^ 
'•y  rule  of  faith  and  manners^ — but  a  secondary  rule^  subordi- 
nate to  the  spirit^  from  which  they  have  their  excellency  and 
certainty  :"f  that  the  testimony  of  the  spirit  is  that  alone  by 
which  the  true  knowledge  of  God  hath  been,  is,  and  can  be  re- 
vealed -yX  that  "  all  true  and  acceptable  worship  of  God  is  of- 
tered  in  the  inward  and  immediate  moving  and  drawing  of  his 
own  spirit,  which  is  neither  limited  to  places,  times,  nor  per- 
sons."$     Such  are  the   avowed  principles  of  the  people  csdled 
Quakers  :  let  us  now  see  some  of  the  fruits  of  those  principles, 
as  recorded  by  themselves,  in  their  founder  and  first  apostles. 

George  Fox  tells  of  himself,  that  at  the  beginning  of  his  mis- 
sion he  was  "  moved  to  go  to  several  courts  and  steeple-houses, 
(churches)  at  Mansfield,  and  other  places,  to  warn  them  to 
leave  off  oppression  and  oaths,  and  to  turn  from  deceit,  and  to  turn 
to  the  Lora."0  On  these  occasions  the  language  and  behaviour 
of  his  spirit  was  very  far  from  the  meekness  and  respect  for 
constituted  authorities  of  the  Gospel  spirit,  as  appears  from  dif- 
ferent passages  in  his  Journal.^  He  tells  us  of  one  of  his  disci- 
ples, William  Simpson,  who  was  "moved  of  the  Lord  to  go,  at 
several  times,  for  three  years,  naked  and  barefoot  before  them,- 
as  a  sign  unto  them,  in  markets,  courts,  towns,  cities,  to  priests* 
houses,  and  to  great  men's  houses,  telling  them,  so  should  they 
be  all  stripped  naked.  Another  Friend,  one  Robert  Hunting- 
don was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  into  Carlisle  steeple-house 
wiih  a  white  sheet  about  him."**  We  are  told  of  a  female 
Friend  who  went  "stark  naked  in  the  midst  of  public  worship, 
into  Whitehall  chapel,  when  Cromwell  was  there;"  an^  &i^<^ 


■.,,...  ..:  -.  ....  v.  i.\  >:  ,  .'  ;,    li  ::•-•:;  I    'M  '    '  •■'  .-*'''^ 

•  Kobert  Barclay's  Apolo^  for  the  Quakers. 

t  Propus.  ill.  In  defending  this  proposition,  Barclay  cites  some  of  tho 
Friends,  who,  being  unable  to  read  the  Scriptures,  even  in  the  vulgar  lan- 
g-nage,  and  being'  pressed  by  adversaries  with  passages  from  it,  botdfy  denied, 
from,  the  manifestution  of  truth  in  their  own  hearts,  that  such  pojsuges  were  con- 
lained  in  the  Scrijjturis,  p,  83. 

i  I'ropos.  II.  §  Propos.  XI. 

II  See  the  Journal  of  Georpe  Fox,  written  by  himself,  and  published  by  his 
disciple  Pcnn,  son  of  admiral  Penn,  folio,  p.  17. 

1 1  shall  satisfy  myself  with  citing  part  of  his  letter,  written  in  1660,  to 

Charles  11. ••  King  C'barles,  thou  earnest  not  into  this  nation  by  sword  nor 

|jy  victory  of  war,  but  by  the  power  of  the  Lord.  And  if  thou  dost  bear  the 
sword  in  vain,  and  let  drunkenness,  oaths,  plays,  May-games,  with  fiddlers*. 
(h'ums,  and  trumpets  to  play  at  tliem,  with  such  hke  abcmiinations  and  vanities, 
l)e  encouraged,  or  go  (mpunished,  as  setting  up  of  Mi'-v -poles,  with  the  ■mage 
oftlie  crown  a-top  of  them,  the  nation  will  quickly  turn,  like  Sodom  and  Go- 
niorriih,  and  he  as  bad  us  tlie  old  world,  who  grieved  the  Lord,  till  he  over- 
threw them  :  and  so  he  will  you,  if  these  things  be  not  suddenly  preventeu*** 
3io.     (i.  F.'s  Journal,  p.  225 

••  Jocnial.  p.  •2:1'^  .   ,   .,. 


34 


Letter  VI. 


ther  woman,  who  came  into  the  parliament  house  with  a  trench- 
er  in  her  Hand,  which  she  broke  in  pieces,  saying,  thus  shall  he 
be  broke  in  pieces.''^ — One  came  to  the  door  of  the  parliament 
house  with  a  drawn  sword,  and  wojnded  several,  saying,  lu 
was  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  kill  every  man  that  sat  in 
that  house."*     But  on  no  one  occasion  have  the  Friends,  with 
'George  Fox  himself,  been  so  embarrassed  to  save  their  rule  oj 
f'aith^  as  they  have  been  to  reconcile  with  it  the  conduct  of 
J  ames  Naylor.f      When  certain  low  and  disorderly  people  in 
Hampshire,  disgraced  their  society  and  became  obnoxious  to  1 
the  laws,  G.  Fox  disowned  them,:|.  but,  when  a  Friend  of  James 
Niylor's  character  and  services^  became  the  laughing-stock  of 
the  nation  for  his  presumption  and  blasphemy,  there  was  no 
other  way  for  the  society  to  separate  his  cause  from  their  own, 
but  by  abandoning  their  fundamental  principles,  which  leaves 
every  man  to  follow  the  spirit  within  him^as  he  himself  feels  it^ 
The  fact  is,  James  Naylor,  like  so  many  other  dupes  o^  a  sup- 
posed private  spirit,  fancied  himself  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  m 
this  character  rode  into  Bristol,  his  disciples  spreading  their  ; 
garments  before  hini,  and  crying,  Holy^  holt/,  holy,  hosannah  in  ; 
the  highest:  and  when  he  had  been  scourged  by  order  of  par- 1 
liament,  for  his  impiety,  he  permitted  the  fascinated  women,  \ 
who  followed  him,  to  kiss  his  feet  and  his  wo\v*^ds,  and  to  hail 
liim  "  the  prince  of  peace,  the  rose  of  Sharon,  the  fairest  ot 
ten  thousand,"!!  &c. 

I  pass  over  many  sects  of  less  note,  as  the  Muggletonians,  ^ 
the  Labbadists,  &c.  who,  by  pursuing  the  meteor  of  a  supposed 
inward  light,  were  led  into  the  most  impious  and  immoral  prac- 
tices. Allied  to  these  are  the  Moravian  brethren,  or  Hemhut- 
tcrs,  so  called  from  Hernhuth  in  Moravia,  where  their  apostle, 
count  Zinzendorf,  made  an  establishment  for  them.  They  are 
now  spread  over  England,  with  ministers  and  bishops  appoint- 
ed by  others  resident  at  Hernhuth.  Their  rule  of  faith,  as  laid 
down  by  Zinzendorf,  is  an  imaginary  inward  light,  against 

*  Maclftine's  note  on  Mosheim,  vol.  v.  p.  470. 

■fSce  History  of  the  Qiiiikers,  by  William  Sewel,  folio,  p.  138.  Journal  of  G, 
Fox,  p.  230. 

%  .loumal  of  G.  Fox,  p.  320. 

tj  Ibid.  p.  220.     Sc'vel's  Hist,  of  Quakers,  p.  140. 

I  Eclianl's  Hist.  Muclaine's  Mosheim.  Neals  Hist,  of  Puritans.  In  closing 
this  account  of  the  Quakers,  we  may  remark  that  there  is  no  appearance  yet 
of  the  fulfilment  of  the  conBdent  prophecy  with  which  Barclay  concludes  his 
Apology  :  '*  That  little  spark  (Quakerism)  that  hath  appeared,  shall  grow  to 
the  consuming  of  whatsoever  shall  stand  up  to  oppose  it.  The  mouth  of  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  it !  Yea;  he  that  hath  risen  in  a  small  remnant,  shall  arise 
and  go  on  by  the  »ame  arm  uf  power  in  his  spiritual  manifestation  until  he  hath 
conquered  all  his  enemies  :  ujitil  all  the  kingdoms  «>r  the  earth  become  the 
kiiig-dom  of  Jeaua  Ciirist." 


I  at  an  e: 

I  had  dir 
I  ner  of 
j  Don't  t 
ed  to  1 
\yotir  C 
the  inti 
to  you  ■ 
tions  w 
those  o 
as  gros 
fice  it  t 
female, 
fession. 
over  th 
world 
that  th 
an.l  ha 


i 


•  Wc 
h  uh,'  s 
n.»t  in  t 
tiirc,  pi 
b:i  war! 
fith  til 
i))g  as 
im,  tlut 
ailding 
t«  folic 
tse 
Grace, 

^Ba 

«,  ^ii 
pl«s  o) 
gularit 
l.eve  1 


LelUr  VL 


u 


»vith  a  trench. 
thus  shall  he 
»e  parliament 
tl,  saying,  /u 
lan  that  sat  in 
Friends,  with 
J  their  rule  oj  .^ 
e  conduct  of; 
:riy  people  in; 
obnoxious  to  ^ 
end  of  James 
hing-stock  of  : 
there  was  no  \ 
>m  their  own,  | 
which  leaves' 
'mself  feels  it, 
pes  oi  a  sup. 
;ssiah,  and  m  j 
•eading  their  ^ 
hosannah  in  , 
order  of  par- 1 
ated  women, 
s,  and  to  hail 
he  fairest  of 


jggletonians, 
f  a  supposed 
nmoral  prac- 
or  Hemhut-  p 
heir  apostle,  * 
i.    They  are 
ops  appoint- 
fiaith,  as  laid  ■ 
ght,  against 


3.  Journal  of  n, 


>ns.  In  closings 
ppearance  yet 
'  concludes  his 
,  shall  g^MT  to 
mouth  of  the 
int,  shall  arise 
n  until  he  hath 
tl  become  tha 


'hich  *rie  true  believer  cannot  sin.  Tliis  they  are  taught  to 
>vak  for  in  quiet,  omitting  prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
thef  rvorks,^  They  deny  that  even  the  moral  law  contained 
n  the  Scriptures  is  a  rule  of  life  for  believers.  Having  consi^* 
•lered  this  system  in  all  its  bearings,  we  are  the  less  surpriseo 
It  the  disgusting  obscenity,  mingled  with  blasphemy,  which  is* 
o  be  met  with  m  the  theological  tracts  of  the  German  count. f 
The  next  system  of  delusion  which  I  shall  mention,  as  pro- 
ceeding from  the  fatal  principle  of  an  interior  rule  of  faith! 
though  framed  in  England,  was  also  the  work  of  a  foreign  no- . 
bleman,  baron  Swedenborg.  His  Arst  supposed  revelation  wa» 
at  an  eating-house  in  London,  about  the  year  1 745,  *•  After  I 
had  dined,  says  he,  "  a  man  appeared  to  me  sitting  in  the  cor- 
ner of  the  room,  who  cried  out  to  me,  with  a  terrible  Voice, 
DonH  eat  so  much.  The  following  night  the  same  man  appear- 
ed to  me,  shining  with  light,  and  said  to  me,  lam  the  Lord^ 
your  Creator  and  Redeemer^  I  have  chosenyou  to  explain  to  men 
the  interior  and  spiritual  sense  of  the  Scriptures:  J  will  dictate 
to  you  what  you  are  to  write,''^\  His  imaginary  communica- 
tions with  God  and  the  angels  were  as  frequent  and  familiar  a» 
those  of  Mahomed,  and  his  conceptions  of  heavenly  things  were 
as  gross  and  incoherent  as  those  of  the  Arabian  impostor.  Suf- 
tice  it  to  say  that  his  God  is  a  mere  man^  his  angels  are  male  and 
ffmaky  who  marry  together  and  follow  various  trades  and  pro* 
fe.ssions.  Finally,  his  New  Jerusalem^  which  is  to  be  spread, 
over  the  whole  earth,  is  so  little  different  from  this  sublunary 
world  that  the  entrance  into  it  is  imperceptible.^  So  far  is  true, 
tliat  the  New  Jerusalemites  are  spread  throughout  England, 
and  have  chaptls  in  most  of  its  principal  towns.|| 

•  Wesley,  in  a  letter  which  he  inscribes  ••To  the  church  of  Gcd  at  Hem- 
hull,' says,  «« There  are  many  whom  your  brethren  have  advised,  though  ' 
n.)C  ill  tiieir  public  preaching',  not  to  use  the  (Irdinances — ^reading  the  Scnpo 
ture,  pntying',  communicatinjf  ;  as  the  doing'  tliese  things  is  seeking  salvatwti 
b\l  works.  So  lie  of  our  English  brethren  (Moravians)  say.  You  wlllnever  have 
f  1th  fill  ynu  leave  off  the  church  and  the  sacrament  x:  as  many  go  to  hell  by  pray- 
v.ig  an  by  thieving."  J'^urnal,  1740.  John  Nelson,  in  his  own  Journal,  teils 
lis,  tJiiit  the  Moravians  call  their  religion  the  Liberty,  and  the  Poor  Sinncrship, 
"(Iding-jthat  «•  they  sell  their  prayer  books,  and  leave  off  reading  and  prayingf 
ty  follow  the  Lamb. 

t  '^ee  Miiclaine's  Hist.  vol.  vi.  p.  23,  and  bishop  Warburtotfs  Doctrine  of 
Grace,  quoted  by  him. 

i  Baruel's  Hist,  du  Jacobinisme,  tom.  iv.  p.  118. 

§  Bamel's  Hist,  du  Jacobinisme,  lorn.  iv.  p.  118. 

n  ^ince  tlie  above  letter  was  written,  another  sect,  the  Joannites,  or  disci- 
ples of  Jo.nima  Southcote,  h.ave  risen  to  notice  by  their  number  and  the  .sin- 
gularity of  their  t  nets.  This  female  apostle  has  been  led  by  her  spirit  to  bc- 
l.cve  herself  to  be  the  woman  of  Genesis,  destined  to  crush  the  head  of  the  in- 
fernal serpent,  with  whom  she  supposes  herself  to  have  had  daily  battles,  to 
the  effusion  of  hit  blood.     She  beUeves  herielf  to  b«,  likewise,  the  woman  of 

D 


S6 


j^eiter  VI, 


I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  enter  upon  the  s.ime  list  with 
these  enthusiasts,  a  numerous  class,  many  of  them  very  respect- 
able, of  modem  religionists,  called  Methodists :  yet,  smce  their 
avowed  system  of  faith  is,  that  this  consists  in  an  instantaneom 
illapse  of  God's  spirit  into  the  souls  of  certain  persons^  by  which 
riiey  are  convinced  of  their  justification  and  salvation^  without 
reference  to  Scripture  or  any  thing  else,  they  cannot  be  placed, 
as  to  their  rule  of  faith,  under  any  other  denomination.  This, 
according  to  the  founder's  doctrine,  is  the  only  article  of  faith; 
all  other  articles  he  terms  opinions^  of  which  he  says,  "the  Me- 
thodists do  not  lay  any  stress  on  them,  whether  right  or  wrong."* 
He  continues :  "  1  am  sick  of  opinions ;  I  am  weary  to  bear  them  j 
my  soul  loaths  this  frothy  fooa."f  Conformably  to  this  latitu- 
dinarian  system,  Wesley  opens  heaven  indiscriminately  to 
churchmen,  Presbyterians,  Independents,  Quakers,  and  even 
to  Catholics.il  Addressing  the  last  named,  he  exclaims,  "  O 
that  God  would  write  in  your  hearts  the  rules  of  self-denial  and 
love  laid  down  by  Thomas  a  Kempis;  or  that  you  would  fol- 
low in  this  and  in  good  works,  the  bumiAg  and  shining  light  of 
your  own  church,  the  marquis  of  Renty.:|:  Then  would  all  who 
know  and  love  the  truth,  rejoice  to  acknowledge  you  as  the 
church  of  the  living  God."§ 

At  the  first  rise  of  Methodism  in  Oxford,  A.  D.  1729,  John 
"Wesley  and  his  companions  were  plain,  serious  church  of  Eng- 
land men,  assiduous  and  methodical  in  praying,  reading,  fasting, 
and  the  like.  What  they  practised  themselves,  they  preached 
to  others  both  in  England  and  America,  till  becoming  intimate 
with  the  Moravian  brethren  and  particularly  with  Peter  Boh- 


the  Rerelations  crowned  with  t%.  «t*e  stars,  which  are  so  muij  ministers  of  the 
established  church.  In  fact,  one  of  these,  a  richly  beneficed  rector,  ami  of  a 
noble  family,  acts  as  her  secretary,  in  writing  and  sealing  passports  to  heaven, 
which  she  supposes  herself  authorized  to  issue,  to  the  number  of  144,000,  at 
a  very  moderate  price.  One  of  these  passports,  in  due  form,  is  in  the  writer's 

frossession.  It  is  sealed  with  three  seids.  The  first  exhibits  two  stars,  name- 
y,  the  morning  star,  to  represent  Christ,  the  evening  star,  to  represent  her- 
self. The  second  seal  exhibits  the  lion  of  Juda,  supposed  to  allude  to  the  in- 
sane prophet,  Richard  Brothers.  The  third  shows  the  face  of  Joanna  herself. 
Of  late,  her  inspiration  has  taken  a  new  turn  :  she  believes  herself  to  be  preg- 
nant of  the  Messiah,  and  her  followers  have  prepared  silver  vessels  of  various 
sorts  for  his  use,  when  he  is  born. 

•  Wesley's  Appeal,  P.  III.  p.  134.  s      ;  t  Ibid.  p.  135. 

n  Wesley's  Appeal. 

t  His  life  written  in  French,  by  PSre  St.  Jure,  a  Jesuit,  and  abridged  in 
English  by  J.  Wesley. 

§  In  his  «•  Popery  Calmly  Considered,"  p.  20,  Wesley  writes:  •*  I  firmly  be- 
lieve that  many  members  of  the  church  of  Rome  have  been  holy  men,  and 
that  many  of  them  are  so  now."  He  elsewhere  says,  ••  Several  of  them  (Pa- 
pists) have  attained  to  as  high  a  pitch  of  sanctity  as  human  nature  is  capable 
of  airiring  at." 


Letter  VI, 


jtr 


Icf ,  one  of  their  elders,  John  Wesley,  "  became  convinced  of 
unbelief,  namely,  a  want  of  that  faith  whereby  alone  we  are 
saved.^^*  Speaking  of  his  past  life  and  ministry,  he  says,  "  I 
was  fundamentally  a  Papist,  and  knew  it  not."f  Soon  after 
this  persuasion,  namely, on  May  24,  1739,  "  Going  into  a  socie- 
ty in  Aldersgate  street,"  he  says,  **  whilst  a  person  was  reading 
Luther's  Preface  to  the  Romans,  about  a  quarter  before  nine,  I 
felt  my  heart  strangely  warmed :  I  felt  I  did  trust  in  Christ,  in 
Clirist  alone  for  salvation,  and  an  assurance  was  given  me  that 
he  had  taken  axvay  mif  sins,  even,  mine,  and  saved  me  from  the 
laiv  of  sin  and  death,'''' \ 

What  were  now  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  a  diffusion 
of  this  doctrine  among  the  people  at  large  ?  Let  us  hear  them 
from    Wesley's    most   able  disciple    and  destined  successor 
Fletcher,  of  Madeley,    "  Antinomian  principles  and  practices," 
he  says,  "  have  spread  like  wild-fire  among  our  societies.  Many 
p'-rsons,  speaking  in  the  most  glorious  manner  of  Christ  and 
their  interest  in  his  complete  salvation,  have  been  found  living 
in  the  greatest  immoralities. — How  few  of  our  societies,  where 
cheating,  extorting,  or  some  other  evil  hath  not  broke  out,  and 
given  such  shakes  to  the  ark  of  the  Gospel,  that,  had  not  the 
Lord  interposed,  it  must  have  been  overset  !"$—**  I  have  seen 
tliem  who  pass  for  believers,  follow  the  strain  of  corrupt  na- 
ture ;  and  when  they  should  have  exclaimed  against  Antino- 
mianism,  I  have  heard  them  cry  out  against  the  legality  of 
their  wicked  hearts,  which  they  said,  stUl  suggested  that  they 
were  to  do  something  for  their  salvationJ'''l — "  How  few  of  our 
celebrated  pulpits,  where  more  has  not  been  said  for  sin  than 
a^xainst  it  /  '51 — The  same  candid  writer,  laying  open  the  foul 
ness  of  his  former  system,  charges  Sir  Richard  Hill,  who  per 
sistcd  in  it,  with  maintaining  that,  "  Even  adultery  and  mur- 
der do  not  hurt  the  pleasant  children,  but  rather  work  for  their 
good."**-—"  God  sees  no  sin  in  believers,  whatever  sin  they 

•  Whitehead's  life  of  .Tohn  and  Charles  Wesley,  vol.  ii.  p.  68. 

tJourn:il,  A.  D.  1739,  Elsewhere,  Wesley  says,  ••  O  what  a  work  lias 
God  bcg'un,  since  Peter  Bohler  came  to  England  ;  such  a  one  as  shall  never 
come  to  an  end,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away.'* 

^  Vide  Whitehead,  vol.  ii.  p.-xge  79.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother  Samuel, 
John  Wesley  says,  *•  By  a  Christian,  I  mean  one  who  so  believes  in  Christ 
that  death  hath  no  domuiion  over  him,  and  in  this  obvious  sense  of  the  word 
1  was  not  II  Christian  till  24th  of  May,  last  year."    Ibid.  105. 

§  Checks  to  Antinom.  vol.  ii.  p.  23.  |  Ibid,  page  200.      >   .. 

1  Ibid,  pag-e  215. 

••  Fletcher's  Works,  vol.  iii.  page  50.  Agricola,  one  of  Luther's  first 
disciples,  is  called  the  founder  of  the  Antinomians.  These  hold  that  the 
fiiitlifid  arc  bound  by  no  law,  either  of  God  or  man,  and  that  good  works  of 
evcrv  kind  are  useless  to  salvation ;  while  Amsdorf,  Luther's  pot-companion, 
taught  that  they  are  an  impediment  to  salvation.  Mosheim'»  Eceks.  Hi»t. 
6 


28 


Letter  VL 


commit.  My  sins  might  displease  God ;  my  person  is  alwai'« 
acceptable  to  him.  Though  I  should  outsin  Manasses,  I  ahouiu 
not  be  less  a  pleasant  child,  because  God  always  views  me  in 
Christ.  Hence,  in  the  midst  of  adulteries,  murders  and  in- 
cests, he  can  address  me  with,  Thou  art  all  fair  my  love,  my 
vndejfiled,  there  is  no  spot  in  Me^."*— "  It  is  a  most  perni- 
cious error  of  the  schoolmen  to  distinguish  sins  according  to 
tht  fact,  and  not  according  to  the  j&er*on."—"  Though  I  blame 
those  who  say.  Let  us  sin  that  grace  may  abound,  yet  adultery, 
incest,  and  murder,  shall,  upon  the  whole,  make  me  holier  on 
earthy  and  merrier  in  heaven,'*^ 

These  doctrines  and  practices,  casting  great  disgrace  on  Me- 
thodism, alarmed  its  founder.  He  therefore  held  a  synod  of 
his  chief  preachers,  undtr  the  title  of  a  Conference,  in  which 
he  and  they  unanimously  abandoned  their  past  fundamental 
principles,  in  the  following  confession  which  they  made,— 
"  ^test,  1 7.  Have  we  not  unawares,  leaned  too  much  to  Gal- 
vanism ?  Ans,  We  are  afraid  we  have,  ^est,  18.  Have  we 
not  also  leaned  too  much  to  Antinomianism  ?  ^ns.  We  are 
afraid  we  have.  ^lett.  20.  What  are  the  main  pillars  of  it  ? 
Ant.  1.  That  Christ  abolished  the  moral  law:  2.  That  Chris- 
tians therefore  are  not  obliged  to  observe  it :  3.  That  one 
branch  of  Christian  liberty,  is  liberty  from  observing  the  com- 
mandments of  God,^'  &c.^  The  publication  of  this  retraction, 
m  1770,  raised  the  indignation  of  the  more  rigid  Methodists, 
namely,  the  Whitefieldites,  Jumpers,  &c.  all  of  whom  were 
under  the  particular  patronage  of  lady  Huntingdon :  according- 
ly her  chaplain,  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Walter  Shirley,  issued  a 
circular  letter  l)y  her  direction,  calling  a  general  meeting  of  her 
connexion,  as  it  is  called,  at  Bristol,  to  censure  this  '*  dreadful 
heresy,''''  which,  as  Shirley  affirmed, "  injured  the  very  funda- 
mentals of  Christianity."^ 

Haviiig  exhibited  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  errors,  con- 
tradictions, absurdities,  impieties,  and  immoralities,  into  which 
numberless  Christians,  most  of  them,  no  doubt,  sincere  in  their 
)jlief,  have  fallen,  by  pursuing  phantoms  of  their  imagination 
or  divine  illuminations,  and  aaopting  a  supposed  immediate 
and  person-;!  revelation  as  the  rule  of  their  faith  and  conduct,  I 
would  request  any  one  of  your  respectable  society,  who  may, 

bj'  Maclaine,  x'ol.  iv.  p.  .15.  p.  328.  Eaton,  a  Puritan,  in  his  Jfmeyenmh  of 
JustiJUation,  nays ;  '<  Delievers  ourht  not  to  mourn  for  lin,  becaiive  it  was 
pardoned  before  it  was  committed." 

•  Fletcher,  vol.  iv.  p.  97. 

t  Quoted  by  Fletcher.     See  alto  Daubcny't  Guide  to  the  Churcn,  p.  B3. 

♦  Apud  Whitehead,  p.  213.    Benton's  Apology,  p.  208. 

S  Fletcher**  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  5.     Whitehcail.    Niffhtlngale's  Portrait  of 


Letter  VII. 


99 


still  adhere  to  it,  to  reconsider  the  self-evident  maxim  laid 
down  in  the  beginning  of  this  letter ;  namely,  that  cannot  be  thtr 
rule  of  faith  and  conduct  which  is  liable  to  lead  w*,  afid  has  led 
^  very  many  well  meaning" persons  into  error  and  impiety;  I  would 
remind  him  of  his  frequent  mists;  kes  and  illusions  respecting 
things  of  a  temporary  nature ;  then,  painting  to  his  mind  the 
all-importance  of  ETERNITY,  that  is  of  happiness  or  misery 
inconceivable  and  everlasting,  I  would  address  him  in  the 
words  of  St.  Augustine,  "  What  is  it  you  are  trusting  to,  poor, 
weak  soul,  and  blinded  with  the  mists  of  the  flesh :  what  is  u 
you  are  trusting  to  ? 

J.M. 


ilj|»i: 


;'.* 


i  '  ■/!; 


!,  li    .;:(]    :f  5:'  ii.-j 

■  /  .■■•I   :> 


Hi.    X  >    I 


-yif.v 


LETTER  VII. 
TO  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq,  ^e. 
OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED, 

Dear  Sib,  """     ':'--■:■  .r"'- '■■•>■' -• 


■  /  .•  ■' ' '. 


^'   buy  A 


<*.-, 


I  HAVE  juBt  received  a  letter  from  Friend  Rankin,  of  Wen- 
lock,  written  much  in  the  style  of  George  Fox,  and  another  from 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Topham,  ot  Brozcley.  They  both  consist  of 
objections  to  my  last  letter  to  you,  which  they  had  perused  at 
New  Cottage ;  and  the  writers  ot  tnem  both  request  that  I 
would  address  whatever  answer  I  might  give  them,  to  your 
villa. 

Friend  Rankin  is  sententious)  yet  civil.  He  asks,  first. 
Whether  "  Friends  at  this  day  and  in  past  times,  and  even  the 
faithful  servant  of  Christ,  George  Fox,  nave  not  condemned  tlv*; 
vain  imaginations  of  James  Naylor,  Thomas  Bushel,  John  Pv- 
rot,  and  the  sinfid  doings  of  many  others,  through  whom  the 
word  of  life  was  blasphemed  in  their  day  among  the  ungodly  ?'* 
He  asks,  secondly,  "Whether  numberless  lollies,  blnKphc' 
mies,  and  crimes,  have  not  risen  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
as  well  as  in  other  churches ?'*  He  asks,  thirdly,  Whcllur 
the  "leamed  Robert  Barclay  in  hi«  glorious  Apolog>-,  hath 
not  shown  forth,  that  the  testimony  of  the  spirit  is  that  alone  bif 
which  the  true  knowledge  of  God,  hath  been,  is,  and  can  be  rrvtai- 
nd  and  confirmed  ;  and  this  not  only  by  the  outward  tcatinwmy 


30 


Letter  VIJ, 


of  Scripture,  but  also  by  that  of  TcrtuUian,  Hierom,  Augustin, 
Gregory  the  Great,  Bernard,  yea  also  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  F. 
Pacificus  Baker,*  and  many  others  of  the  Popish  communion, 
who,  says  Robert  Barclay,  have  known  and  tasted  the  love  of 
God,  and  felt  the  power  and  virtue  of  God's  spirit  working 
%vithia  them  for  their  salvation  ?"f 

I  will  first  consider  the  arguments  of  Friend  Rankin.  I  grart 
him,  then,  that  his  founder,  George  Fox,  does  blame  certain 
extravagancies  of  Naylor,  Perot,  and  others,  his  followers,  ai 
the  same  time  that  he  boasts  of  several  committed  by  himself 
by  Simpson,  and  others.:}:  But  how  does  he  confute  them,  and 
guard  others  against  them?  Why,  he  calls  their  authors  ranters 
and  charges  them  with  running  outl^  Now  what  kind  of  argu- 
ment is  this  in  the  mouth  of  G.  Fox  against  any  fanatic,  how- 
ever furious,  when  he  himself  has  taught  him,  that  he  is  to 
listen  to  the  spirit  of  God  within  himself,  in  preference  to  the 
authority  of  any  man  and  of  all  men^  and  even  of  the  Gospel? 
G.  Fox  was  not  more  strongly  moved  to  believe  that  he  was 
the  messenger  of  Christy  than  T.  Nsurlor  was  to  believe  that  he 
himself  was  Christ',  nor  had  he  a  nrmfer  conviction  that  the 
Lord  forbade  hat-worship,  as  it  is  called,  (fut  of  prayer^  than  J. 
PerotH  and  his  company  nad  that  they  were  forbidden  to  use  it 
in  prayer,^  Secondly,  with  respect  to  the  excesses  and  crimes 
committed  by  many  Catholics,  of  diflFerent  ranks,  as  well  as  bv 
other  men,  in  all  ages,  I  answer,  that  these  have  been  committee!^ 
not  in  virtue  of  their  rule  of  faith  and  conduct^  but  in  direct  op- 
position to  ity  as  will  be  more  fully  seen,  when  we  come  to  treat 
of  that  rule ;  whereas  the  extravagancies  of  the  Quakers  were 
the  immediate  dictates  of  the  imaginary  spirit  which  they  fol- 
lowed as  their  guide.  Lastly,  when  the  doctors  of  the  Catholic 
church  teach  us,  after  the  inspired  writers,  not  to  extinguish^ 
but  to  walk  in  the  spirit  of  God,  they  tell  us,  at  the  same  time, 

*  An  English  Benedictine  Monk*  author  of  Saneta  Sophiot  which  ii  qiiot. 
ed  at  li-nfrtli  by  Barclay.  •  ...-;.. 

t  Apology,  p.  .''<i.  '        '  '  ■         ■  ♦  f        ;  u^"»':  /  * 

.f^  4  See  Journal  of  G.  Fox,  paasim.  !.thM<.> 

4  Speaking  of  James  Naylor,  he  says,  "  I  spake  with  him,  for  I  saw  he  WOm 
nut  and  ivrongf  he  slighted  what  I  said,  nnd  was  dark  and  much  out."  Juurn, 
p.  220, 

I  Journ.  ."^lO.  This  and  another  friend,  John  Love,  went  on  a  mission  ti 
Rome,  to  conveK  the  Pope  to  Quakerism ;  but  hia  Holiness  not  understanding 
Kngiish,  when  they  addressed  liim  with  some  course  Knelish  epithets  in  St. 
Peters  church,  they  Imd  no  better  succckh  than  a  female  friend,  Mary  Fisher, 
bad,  who  went  into  Greece  to  convert  the  (ireat  Turk.    See  Scwel's  Hist. 

1  "Now  he  (Fox)  found  also  that  the  Lord  forbade  him  to  put  off  his  hat 
to  any  men  either  high  or  low  ;  and  he  required  to  Thou  and  Tnee  every  man 
and  woman,  without  distinction,  and  not  to  bid  people  Good  ntorrow,  or  Good 
evening,-  neither  might  he  bow,  or  scrape  with  his  leg"  SewcH's  Iliat.  a. 
18.  Sec  there  a  Dissertation  on  llat-ivuralti^. 


■j 


4 


-I 


Letter  VII, 


31 


that  this  hol\-  spirit  invariably  and  necessarily  leads  us  to  hear 
\\\t  church,  and  to  practise  that  humility,  obedience,  and  those 
other  virtues,  which  she  constantly  inculcates :  so  that,  if  it 
were  possible  for  an  an^elfrom  heaven  to  preach  aiwther  Gospel 
than  -what  we  have  recieved^  he  ought  to  be  rejected,  as  a  spirit 
of  darkness.  Even  Luther,  when  the  Anabaptists  first  broached 
many  of  the  leading  tenets  of  the  Quakers,  required  them  to 
demonstrate  their  pretended  commission  from  God,  by  incon- 
testable miracles,*  or  submit  to  be  guided  by  his  appointed  mi- 
nisters, 

I  have  now  to  notice  the  letter  of  Mr.  Topham.f  Some  of 
Ins  objections  have  already  been  answered,  in  my  remarks  oa 
Mr.  Rankin's  letter.  What  I  find  particular,  in  the  former,  is 
the  following  passage:  "Is  it  possible  to  go  against  conviction 
and  facts?  namely,  the  experience  that  very  many  serious  Chris- 
tians feel,  in  this  day  of  God''s  power,  that  they  are  made  par- 
takers of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost?  Of  very  many  that 
hear  him  saying  to  the  melting  heart,  with  his  still,  small,  yet 
penetrating  and  renovating  voice.  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee: 
be  thou  clean:  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  wholt  ?  If  an  exterior 
proof  were  wanting,  to  show  the  certainty  of  this  interior  con- 
viction, I  might  refer  to  the  conversion  and  holy  life  of  those 
who  have  experienced  it." — ^To  this  I  answer,  that  the  facts 
and  the  conviction  which  your  friend  talks  of,  amount  to  noth- 
ing more  than  a  certain  strength  of  imagination  and  warmth  of 
sentiment,  which  may  be  natural,  or  may  be  produced  by  that 
lying"  spirit,  whom  God  permits  sometimes  to  go  forth,  and  to 
persuade  the  presumptuous  to  their  destruction.  1  Kings  xxii. 
22.  I  presume  Mr.  Topham  will  allow,  that  no  experience  he 
has  felt  or  witnessed  exceeds  that  of  Bockhold,  or  Hacket,  or 
Naylor,  mentioned  above,  who,  nevertheless,  were  confessedly 
betrayed  bv  it  into  most  horrible  blasphemies  and  attrocious 
crimes.  The  virtue  most  necessary  for  enthusiasts,  because  the 
most  remote  from  them,  is  an  humble  diffidence  in  themselves. 
When  Oliver  Cromwell  was  on  his  death-bed,  Dr  Godwin  be- 
ing present,  among  other  ministers,  prophesied  that  the  Pro- 
tector would  recover:  death,  however,  almost  immediately  en- 
suing, the  Puritan,  instead  of  acknowledging  his  error,  cast  the 
blame  upon  Almighty  God,  exclaiming,  "Lord,  thou  hast  de- 
ceived us  and  we  have  been  deceived!  t    With  respect  to  the 


Sleidan. 

I  It  WM  originally  intended  to  insert  these  and  the  other  letters  of  the  same 
deRcription  :  but  as  this  would  hnve  rendered  the  work  too  bulky,  and  at  the 
whole  of  tlic  objections  may  be  (futhcrcd  from  the  answers  *.o  tliiini|  that  iatCQ* 
tion  has  been  abnndoned. 

4  See  Uirch's  Life  of  Archbitthup  Tillotsr'n.  \>   IT.        ' 

0*  /  • 


52 


Letter  VIIL 


alleged  purity  of  Antinomian  saints,  I  would  refer  to  the  hh- 
tory  of  the  lives  and  deaths  of  many  of  our  English  regicides, 
and  to  the  gross  immoralities  of  numlKjrless  Justified  M.:thO' 
distSy  dfsc»-ibed  by  Fletcher,  in  his  Checks  to  Antinomianism,* 


I  am,  &c. 


J.  M. 


LETTER  VIII. 


J' '5 


i 


4.. 
■"■: 


,     To  JAMES  BROWN,  Etq, 
SECOND  FALLACIOUS  RULE,         j 
DearSir,  ■/   ,  ;'  1;;/'  r  ■'".'.'/  .''^^ '"'.'■ /''^ 

I  TAKE  it  for  granted,  that  my  answers  to  Messrs,  Ran- 
kin and  Topham  have  been  communicated  to  you,  and  I  hope 
that  they,  in  conjunction  with  my  preceding  letters,  have  con- 
vinced those  gentlemen,  of  what  you,  dear  sir,  have  all  along, 
heen  convinced,  namely,  of  the  inconsistency  and  fanaticism  of 
every  pretension  on  the  part  of  individuals,  now-a-days,  to  a 
new  and  particular  inspiration,  as  a  rule  of  faith.  The  ques- 
tion whicn  remains  for  our  inquiry  is,  whether  the  rule  or  me- 
thod prescribed  by  the  church  of  England  and  other  more 
rational  classes  of  Protestants,  or  that  prescribed  by  the  Catho- 
lic church,  is  the  one  designed  by  our  Saviour  Christ  for  find- 
ing out  his  true  religion.  You  say  that  the  whole  of  this  is 
comprised  in  the  written  word  of  God,  or  the  Bible^  and  that 
evrrif  individual  is  a  judge  for  himself  of  the  sense  of  the  Bible, 
Hence,  in  every  religious  controversy,  more  especially  since 
the  last  change  of  the  inconstant  Chillingworth,f  Catholics  have 

*  Thia  candid  and  able  writer  says,  **  Hie  Puritans  and  first  Quakers  soon 
gnt  over  the  edge  of  internal  activity  into  the  smooth  and  easy  path  of  Landi- 
cran  formality.  Most  of  us,  called  Methodists,  have  already  followed  tliem. 
%Ve  fall  asleep  under  the  bewitching  power ;  we  dream  strange  dreams ;  our 
8»l\  ation  is  finished ;  W3  have  got  above  le^fnlity;  we  have  attained  Christian  li- 
berty; wc  have  nothing  to  do  \  our  covenunt  is  sure."  Vol.  ii.  p.  233.  He  re 
fert  to  several  instances  of  the  most  flagitious  conduct  which  human  nature  ik 
capable  of,  in  persons  who  had  attained  to  what  they  call  f.niahed  aalvatifm. 

I Chillingworth  was  first  a  Pmtestant,  of  the  establishment:  he  wcxX  be- 
,  <  •  rntJiolic,  and  studied  in  one  of  our  seminaries.  He  then  retunied,  in 
'^  •  *,  to  nis  former  creed  :  and  lost  of  all,  he  gave  into  SocirMiniani,  which  Itij 
'^)   lings  giTatly  promoted. 


letter  Vm, 


Sd 


oeen  stunned  vrith  the  cues  of  jarring  Protestant  sects  and  in- 
dividuals, proclaiming  that,  the  Bible^  the  Bible  alone  in  their  re- 
Ugion:  and  hence,  more  particularly  at  the  present  day,  Biblea 
are  distributed  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  throughout  the  em- 
pire and  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  as  the  adequate  means 
appointed  by  Christ,  of  uniting  and  reforming  Christians  and  of 
converting  Infidels.  On  the  other  hand,  we  Catholics  hold  that 
the  Word  of  God  in  general  both  written  and  unwritten^  in  other 
words,  the  Bible  and  tradition.,  taken  together.,  constitute  the  rnlt 
of  faith  or  method  for  finding  out  the  true  religion:  and  that^  be- 
sides the  rule  itself  he  has  provided  in  his  holy  church.^  a  livings 
speaking  judge  to  watch  over  it  and  explain  it  in  all  matters  of 
controversy.  That  the  latter,  and  not  the  former,  is  the  true  rule^ 
I  trust  I  shall  be  able  to  prove  as  clearly  as  I  have  proved  that 
private  inspiration  docs  not  constitute  it :  and  this  I  shall  prove 
by  means  of  the  two  maxims  I  have,  on  that  occasion,  made 
use  of;  namely,  the  rule  offaith^  appointed  by  Christ  must  be 
CERTAIN  and  UNERRING,  that  is  to  say,  it  must  be  one 
which  is  not  liable  to  lead  any  rational  and  sincere  inquirer  into 
inconsistency  or  error:  secondly,  this  rule  must  be  UNIVER- 
S  AIj  i  that  is  to  say,  it  must  be  proportioned  to  the  abilities  and 
circumstances  of  the  great  bulk  of  mankind, 

I,  If  Christ  nad  intended  that  all  mankind  should  learn  his 
religion  from  a  book.,  namely,  The  New  Testament.,  he  himself 
would  have  written  that  book,  and  would  have  laid  it  down,  as 
the  first  and  fundamental  precept  oi  his  religion,  the  obligation 
of  learning  to  read  it ;  whereas,  he  never  wrote  any  thing  at  all, 
unless  perhaps  the  sins  of  the  Pharisees  with  his  finger  upon 
the  dust,  John  viii.  6.*  It  does  not  even  appear  that  he  gave 
his  apostles  any  command  to  write  the  Gospels ;  though  he  re- 
peatedly and  emphatically  commanded  them  to  preach  it,  (^Matt, 
X,)  and  that  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Matt,  xxviii.  19. — 
In  this  ministry  they  all  of  tliem  spent  their  lives,  preaching  the 
religion  of  Christ  in  every  country,  from  Judea  to  Spain,  in  one 
direction,  and  to  India  in  another;  every  where  establishing 
churches,  and  commending  their  doctrine  to  faithful  men  who 
should  befit  to  teach  others  also,  2.  Tim.  ii.  2.  Only  a  part  ot 
tliein  wrote  any  thing,  and  what  these  did  write  was,  for  the 
most  part,  addressed  to  particular  persons  or  congregations, 
and  on  particular  occasions.  The  ancient  fathers  tell  us  that 
St.  Matthew  wrote  his  Gospel  at  the  particular  request  of  the 
Christians  of  Palestine,!  and  that  St.  Mark  composed  his  at  the 

•  It  is  agreed  upon  amonff  the  learned,  that  the  supposed  letter  of  Christ  to 
Abg^orus,  Kiii^  of  F/(lt.9sa,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Hist.  Kcd.  '.1.  is  spurious. 

t  F.useb.  1.  3.  UJHt.  F'ccl.  Chrysos.  in  Mat.  Horn.  1.  Ircn.  .  3*  c.  1.  Ilieron. 
deVir  lUuit. 

V. 


34 


Letter  riri. 


desire  of  those  at  Rome.*  St.  l.uke  addressed  his  (lospel  to 
an  indlvidual,Theophilus,  having  written  it,  says  the  holy  cvvin- 
frt::\Ut^htcA\iscit seemed g-GOti to  him  to  dd  so.  Luke  i.  3.  St.  John 
wrote  the  hist  of  the  Gospels  in  compliance  with  the  petition  of 
the  clergy  and  people  of  Lesser  Asia,f  to  prove,  in  particular,  th* 

divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  Cerinthus,  Kblon,  and  other 
heretics  began  then  to  deny.  >5o  doubt  the  evangelists  wtrij 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  listen  to  the  requ'sts  of  the  faith- 
ful in  writing  their  respective  Gospels ;  nevertheless,  there  is 
nothing  in  th:;se  occabions,  nor  in  the  Gospels  ihems^  Ives,  whi  h 
indicates  that  any  one  of  them,  or  all  of  them  together,  contiiin 
r.n  entire,  detailed,  and  clear  exposition  of  the  whole  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  canonical  Epistles  in  the  New  Testament, 
show  the  particular  occasions  on  which  they  were  written,  and 
prove,  as  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  observes,  that  "they  are  not  to 
be  considered  as  regular  treatises  on  the  Christian  Religion."^ 

s  IL  In  supposing  our  Saviour  to  have  appointed  his  bare  writ- 
ten word  for  the  rule  of  our  faith,  without  any  authorized  judge 
to  decide  on  the  unavoidable  controversies  grow.ng  out  of  it, 
you  would  suppose  that  he  has  acted  differently  from  what  com- 
mon sense  has  dictated  to  all  other  legislators.  For  where  do 
we  read  of  a  legislator,  who,  after  dictating  a  code  of  laws,  ne- 
glected to  appomt  judges  and  magistrates  to  decide  their  meaii- 
mg,  and  to  enforce  obedience  to  such  decisions?  You,  dear 
sir,  have  the  means  of  knowing  what  would  be  the  consequence 
of  lea\'ing  any  act  of  parliament,  concerning  taxes,  or  inclosures, 
or  any  other  temporal  concerns,  to  the  interpretation  of  the  in- 
dividuals whom  It  regards.  Alluding  to  the  Protestant  rule, 
the  illustrious  Fenelon  has  said,  "  It  is  better  to  live  without 
any  law,  than  to  have  laws  which  all  men  are  left  to  interpret 
according  to  their  several  opinions  and  interests."^  The  bi- 
shop of  London  appears  sensible  of  this  truth,  as  far  as  regards 
temporal  affairs,  where  he  writes,  "In  matters  of  property  in- 
deed,  some  decision,  right  or  wrong,  must  be  made:  society 
could  not  subsist  without  it:"||  just  as  if  peace  and  unity  were 
less  necessary  in  the  one  sheepfold  of  the  one  shepherd^  the 
church  of  Christ,  than  they  are  in  civil  society! 

III.  The  f:ict  is,  this  method  of  determining  religious  ques 
lions  by  Scripture  only,  according  to  eacn  individuaPs  interpre- 
tation, whenever  and  wherever  it  has  beenadopted,  has  always 
|)roduced  endless  and  incurable  dissentions,  and  of  course  er- 
rors ;  because  truth  is  one,  while  errora  are  numberless.     The 


c.  15.  Hist.  Eccl.  Epipli.  Ilicron.  de  Vir.  Illust. 


;»■• 


•  Euscb.  1 

fEuseb.  I,  6.  Hist.  Eccl.  Ilicron. 
\  Klein,  of  Cbrist.  Kcl.  vol.  i.  p.  277. 
S  LiU;  of  Arclil)p.  Fenelon,  l)y  Ramsey, 


B  Brief  Confut.  p.  18 


I  ancient : 

and  schi 

says  St. 

who  hav 

Another 

fhangini 

that  thei 

To  sp 

their  pre 

vate  jud 

authorit; 

jples,  pr< 

[plain  te?c 

land  that 

jZulngliu 

this  follo' 

|othef,  w 

to  gk>un 

alone.     ] 

^ain  did 

Ithreaten 

iible  in 

Ifolloweri 

lutual 


•  St.  Ai 

n'his  h 

rope.    Ti 

S  He  wa 

Zuingi 
iegan  it  ir 
pagan,  anc 

IHe  wa 

alityof/ 
hjtiotljig^  tli 
Muneer  v 
|o  him;  an 
llii«  requii 

••«e«i 

levil  ihall 
)assag^e8  o 
tand  Uim 

74. 

tt'Mfj 
ecant  wii; 
)per.  torn 

n  See  t 
>f  rtal  p\ 


Letter  Fill 


55 


ancient  fathers  of  the  church  reproached  the  sects  of  heretics 
and  schismatics  with  their  endless  internal  divisions;  "See," 
[says  St.  Augustine,  "into  how  many  morsels  those  are  divided, 
who  have  divided  themselves  from  the  unity  of  the  church!"* 
Another  father  writes,  "  It  is  natunil  for  error  to  be  ever 
!  fhanging.f  The  disciples  have  the  same  right  in  this  mattei 
[that  their  masters  had." 

To  speak  now  of  the  Protestant  reformers.     No  sooner  had 
their  progenitor,  Martin  Luther,  set  up  the  tribunal  of  his  pri- 
Ivate  judgment  on  the  sense  of  Scripture,  in  opposition  to  the 
authority  of  the  church,  ancient  and  modern,:|:  than  his  disci- 
pies,  proceeding  on  his  principle,  undertook  to  prove,  from 
[plain  texts  of  the  Bible,  that  his  own  doctrine  was  erroneous, 
land  that  the  Reformation  itself  wanted  reforming.  Carlostad,^ 
IZuinglius,!  Oficolompadius,  Muncer,*||  and  a  hundred  more  of 
Ihis  followers  wrote  and  preached  against  him  and  against  each 
jother,  with  the  utmost  virulence,  still  each  of  them  professing 
to  gbound  his  doctrine  and  conduct  on  the  written  word  of  God 
ilone.    In  vain  did  Luther  claim  a  superiority  over  them ;  in 
vain  did  he  denounce  hell-fire  against  them  ;**  in  vain  did  he 
threaten  to  return  back  to  the  Catholic  religion  :tt  he  had  put  the 
Bible  into  each  man^s  hand  to  explain  it  for  himself:  this  his 
followers  continued  to  do  in  open  defiance  of  him  ^t  till  their 
lutual  contradictions  and  discords  became  so  nuirerous  ar»fl 


/^ 


•St.  Aug.  f  Tertul.  de  Prwucrip. 

n'his  happened  in  June,  1520,  on  his  doctrine  bein^  censured  by  the 
'ope.    Till  this  time,  he  had  submitted  it  to  the  judgement  of  the  Holy  See, 

i  He  was    Luther's  first  disciple  of  distinction,  being  archdeacon  of  Wit- 
^emberg^     He  declared  against  Luther  in  1521. 

Zuin^ius  beg^n  the  reformation  in  Switzerland,  sometime  after  Lutlter 
|)e{i^n  it  in  Germany;  but  taught  such  doctrine,  tliat  the  latter  termed  him  « 
pagan,  and  said,  he  despaired  of  his  salvation.  ^  .    « 

^  He  »'as  the  disciple  of  Luther,  and  founder  of  the  Anabaptists,  who,  in 
huality  of  the  just,  maintained  that  the  property  of  the  wicked  belonged  (o  them, 
itioting  the  second  beatitudr :  bleated  are  tJie  meek  fur  they  ahall  possess  the  land. 
Miineer  wrote  to  the  several  princes  of  Germany,  to  give  up  their  possessions 
lo  him;  and,  at  the  head  of  forty  thousand  of  his  followers,  marched  to  enforce 
.his  requisition. 

'  He  says  to  them,  "  I  can  defend  you  against  the  Pope — ^but  when  the 
|evH  ihaU  vu"ge  against  you  (the  heads  of  these  changes)  at  your  death,  these 
Kissages  of  Scripture,  t/uy  ran  and  I  did  not  send  t/tem,  how  shall  you  with, 
tand  him  \    He  will  plunge  you  headlong  into  hell."— Opcr.  tom.  vii.  ful. 

ft  •*  If  you  continue  in  these  measures  of  your  common  deliberations,  T  will 
ecant  whatever  I  have  written  or  said,  and  leave  you.  Mind  wli.it  I  sav."— 
iper.  tom.  vii,  fol.  276.  edit.  Wittemb. 

U  See  the  curious  challenge  of  Luther  to  Carlostad  to  write  a  book  agninst 
|ie  real  presence,  wlien  one  wishes  the  other  to  fireak  his  neck,  and  the  other 
*U.  »utjf  Isu  thee  broken  on  tJu  wluti, — Variot.  b.  U- 1'    ^  • 


s« 


Letter  VJIL 


i 


ss; 


and  I 


scandalous,  as  to  overwhelm  the  thinking  part  of  them  with  grief 
and  confusion.'ll' 

To  point  out  some  few  of  the  particular  variations  alluded  to ; 
for  to  enumerate  them  all,  would  require  a  work  vastly  more 
voluminous  than  that  of  Bossuet  on  this  subject:  it  is  well' 
known  that  Luther's  fundamental  principle  was  that  of  imputed 
Justice^  to  the  .  exclusion  of  all  acts  of  virtue  and  good  works 
whatsoever.  His  favourite  disciple  and  bottle-compamon,  Ams- 
dorf,  carried  this  principle  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  good  work 
are  a  hinderance  to  salvation,]   In  vindication  of  his  fundamen 
tal  tenet,  Luther  vaunts  as  follows :  This  article  shall  remain,  I 
in  spite  of  all  the  world:  it  is  I,  Martin  Luther,  evangelist,' 
who  say  it:  let  no  one  therefore  attempt  to  infringe  it,  neither!  I 
the  emperor  of  the  Romans,  nor  of  the  Turks,  nor  of  the  Tar.  ; 
lars  ;  neither  the  Pope,  nor  the  monks,  nor  the  nuns,  nor  th«  j 
kings,  nor  the  princes,  nor  all  the  devils  in  hell.  If  they  attempt  | 
it,  may  the  infernal  flames  be  their  recompense.     What  I  say 
here  is  to  be  taken  for  an  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost."|-. 
Notwithstanding,  however,  these  terrible  threats  and  impreca- 
tions of  their  master,  Melancthon,  with  the  rest  of  the  Luther 
ans,  immediately  after  his  death,  abandoned  this  article, 
went  over  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  Semipelagianism  ;  name 
ly,  they  not  only  admitted  the  necessity  of  good  works,  but  they| 
also  taught  that  these  are  prior  to  God's  grace.     Still  on  this 
single  subject,  Osiander,  a  Lutheran,  says,  "  there  are  twenty! 
several  opinions,  all  drawn  from  the  Scripture  ^  and  held  by  dil- 
ferent  members  of  the  Augsburg,  or  Lutheran  Confession."^ 

Nor  has  the  unbounded  license  of  explaining  Scripture, 
each  one  in  his  own  way,  which  Protestants  claim,  been  con. 
fined  to  mere  errors  and  dissensions  ;  it  has  also  caused  mu- 
tual persecution  and  bloodshed  ;||  it  has  produced  tumults,  re  - 

•  Capito,  minister  of  Strasburg',  writing  to  Farel,  pastor  of  Geneva,  tliiu 
complains  to  him:  *<  God  has  given  me  to  understand  the  mischief  we  h»ve 
done,  by  our  precipitancy  in  breaking  witli  tlie  pope,  &c.  The  people  say 
to  us,  I  know  enough  of  the  Gospel:  I  can  read  it  for  myself,  I  have  no  need 
of  you."  Inter  Epist.  Calvini.  In  the  same  tone,  Dudith  writes  to  his  friend 
Bcza,  ••  Our  people  are  carried  away  with  every  wind  of  doctrine.  If  you  know 
what  their  reU^ion  is  to-day,  you  cannot  tell  what  it  will  be  to-morrow.  In 
what  single  pomt  are  those  churches  which  have  declared  war  against  the  pope 
agreed  among  themselves  ?  There  is  not  one  point  which  is  not  held  by  some! 
of  them  as  an  article  of  fuith,  and  by  others  as  an  impiety."  In  the  some  seii' 
timent.  Calvin,  writing  to  Melancthon,  says,  "  It  is  of  great  importance  thil 
the  divisiuns,  which  subsist  amongf  us,  should  not  be  known  to  future  ages; 
for  nothing  can  be  more  ridiculous  than  that  we,  who  have  broken  off  from  the 
^thole  world,  should  have  agreed  so  ill  among  ourselves,  from  the  very  begin* 
iiing  of  the  lleformation." 

f  Musheim  Hist,  by  Maclaine,  vol.  iv,  p.  328.  ed.  1790.     \  Visit.  Sa^on.  i 

i  Archdeacon  Blackburn's  Confessional,  p.  16. 

II  See  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  chapter,  Pergecution.  >umberle»«  other  prooij 
cf  Protestants  persecuting,  not  only  Catholics,  but  also  their  fellow  Protestanti,  U 
death,  uii  urcouiit  of  their  religious  opinions,  can  be  acMuceiU 


reason 
a  poin 
taught 
these 
{•mines 
was  m 
or  aca 
Dessa 
the  ih 
possib 
and  to 
cate  tc 

•Dr. 

fHis 


letter  VllL 


% 


n  with  grief] 

alluded  to ; 
vastly  more 
it  IS  well; 
t  of  imputed 

good  works 
anioQ,  Ams- 
t  good  work 
is  fundamcn 
ihall  remain 
evangelist, 
je  it,  neither    1 

of  the  Tar.  1 
nuns,  nor  the 
they  attempt  f 

What  I  Bav; 

Ghost."!- 
md  impreca- 1 
"the  Luther4 
J  article,  and 
nism ;  name 
irks,  but  they 

Still  on  this 
Yi  are  twenty 
Iheld  by  dit 
onfession."^ 
ng  Scripture, 
m,  been  con- 
5  caused  mii- 
1  tumults,  re- 

of  GenevB,  tlmi 
lischief  we  have 

The  people  say 
I  have  110  need 
rites  to  his  frieii 
Ine,  If  you  know 
;  to-morrow.  In 
r  against  the  pope 
not  held  by  some 

In  the  same  sen. 
t  importance  thitr 
I  to  future  agesi! 
■oken  off  from  the 
n  the  very  begiiv 

\  Visit.  Sason. 

jerle»«  other  proolif| 
low  Protestanti,  ti 


bellions,  and  anarchy,  beyond  recounting.  Dr.  Hey  assei  ts, 
that  "  The  misinterpretation  of  Scripture  brought  on  the  mise- 
ries of  the  civil  war  ;"*  and  lord  Clarendor  Madox,  and  other 
writers,  show  that  there  was  not  a  crime  committed  by  the 
Puritan  rebels,  in  the  course  of  it,  which  they  did  not  profess  to 
justify  by  texts  and  instances  drawn  from  the  sacred  volumes.f 
Iceland,  Bergier,  Baruel,  Robison,  and  Kett,  abundantly  provn 
that  the  poisonous  plant  of  Infidelity,  which  has  produced  such 
dreadful  effects  of  late  years  on  the  continent,  was  transplanted 
thither  from  this  Protestant  island ;  and  that  it  was  produced, 
aourished,  and  increased  to  its  enormous  growth  by  that  prin- 
ciple of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion,  which  is  the 
very  foundation  of  the  Reformation.  Let  us  hear  the  two  last 
mentioned  authors,  both  of  them  Protestant  clergymen,  on  this 
important  subject.  "  The  spirit  of  free  inquiry,"  says  Kelt, 
(juoting  Robinson, "  was  the  great  boast  of  the  Protestants,  and 
their  only  support  against  the  Catholics  ;  securing  them,  both 
m  their  civil  and  religious  rights.  It  was,  therefore,  encou- 
raged by  their  governments,  and  sometimes  indulged  to  excess. 
In  the  progress  of  this  contest,  their  own  Confessions  did  not 
escape  censure  ;  and  it  was  asserted,  that  the  Reformation,  whicl* 
these  confessions  express,  was  not  complete.  Further  reforma- 
tion was  proposed.  The  Scriptures,  the  foundation  of  their  faith, 
were  examined  by  Clergymen  of  very  different  capacities,  dispo- 
sitions, and  views,  till,  by  explaining,  correcting,  allegorizing, 
and  otherwise  twisting  the  Bible,  men's  minds  had  hardly  any 
thing  to  rest  on,  as  a  doctrine  of  revealed  religion.  This  en- 
couraged others  to  go  further,  and  to  say  that  revelation  was  a 
solecism,  as  plainly  appears  by  the  irreconcilable  differences 
among  the  cnlighteners  of  the  public,  as  they  were  called  ;  and 
that  man  had  nothing  to  trust  to,  biit  the  dictates  of  natural 
reason.  Another  set  of  writers,  proceeding  from  this,  as  from 
a  point  settled,  proscribed  all  religion  whatever,  and  openly 
taught  the  doctrines  of  Materialism  and  Atheism.  Most  of 
these  innovations  were  the  work  of  Protestant  divine!}^  from  the 
causes  that  I  have  mentioned.  But  the  progress  of  fpfidelity 
was  much  accelerated  by  the  establishment  of  a  Philar^thrctpine^ 
or  academy  of  general  education  in,  the  principality  of  Anhalt- 
Dessau.  The  professed  object  of  this  institution  was  to  unite 
the  three  Christian  commimions  of  Germany,  and  to  make  it 
possible  for  the  members  of  them  all  not  only  to  live  amicably, 
and  to  worship  God  in  the  same  church,  but  even  to  communi- 
cate together.     This  attempt  gave  rise  to  much  speculation  and 


•  Dr.  Key's  Theological  Lectures,  vol.  i.  p.  77. 
t  Hist,  of  Civ.  War.  Examin.  of  Neal's  Hist,  of 


Pari' 


■^i-; 


53 


Utter  fill. 


refinement ;  and  the  proposal  for  the  amendment  of  the  formu- 
las, and  the  instructions  from  the  pulpit,  were  prosecuted  with 
8o  much  keenness,  that  the  ground-work  of  Christianity  was 
refined  and  refined,  till  it  vanished  altogether,  leaving  Deism, 
ur  natural,  or,  as  it  was  called,  pliilosjphical  religion^  in  it» 
place.  The  Lutherans  and  Cahinists^  prepared  by  the  causes 
before  mentioned^  to  become  dupes  to  this  masterpiece  of  art, 
were  enticed  by  the  specious  liberality  of  the  scheme,  and  the 
particular  attention  which  it  promised  to  the  morals  of  youth : 
but  not  one  Roman  Catholic  could  Basedow  allure  to  his  semi- 
nari/  of  practical  ethicsJ*^* 

IV.  You  have  seen,  dear  sir,  to  what  endless  errors  and  im- 

f)ieties,  the  principle  of  private  interpretation  of  Scripture,  no 
CSS  than  that  of  private  inspiration  of  faith,  has  Conducted  men, 
and,  of  course,  is  ever  liable  to  conduct  them ;  which  circum- 
stance, therefore,  proves,  that  it  cannot  be  the  rule  for  bringing 
us  to  religious  truths,  according  to  the  self-evident  maxim 
stated  above.  Nor  is  it  to  be  imagined^  that, previously  to  the 
formation  of  the  different  national  churches,  and  other  religious 
associations,  which  took  place  in  several  parts  of  Europe,  at 
what  is  called  "  The  Reformation,"  the  Scriptures  were  dili- 
gently consulted  by  the  founders  of  them,  and  that  the  ancient 
system  of  religion  was  exploded,  and  the  new  systems  adopted, 
conformably  with  their  apparent  sense,  as  Protestant  contro- 
vertists  would  have  you  believe.  No,  sir,  princes  and  states- 
men had  a  great  deal  more  to  do  vrith  these  changes,  than  theo- 
logians ;  and  most  of  the  parties  concerned  in  them  were  evi- 
dently pushed  on  by  very  different  motives  from  those  of  reli- 
gion. As  to  Martm  Luther,  he  testifies,  and  calls  God  to  wit- 
ness the  truth  of  -his  testiniony,  that  it  was  not  willingly^  (that 
is,  not  from  a  previous  discovery  of  the  falsehood  of  his  reli- 
gion) but  from  accident^  (namely,  a  quarrel  with  the  Domini- 
can friars,  and  afterwards  Ifith  the  Pope)  that  he  fell  into  his 
broils  about  religion,  j     With  respect  to  the  Reformation 


in 


•  Robison's  Proofs  of  a  Conspiracy  against  all  Religions,  8cc.  Kelt's  History 
the  Interpreter  of  prpphccy.  Vol.  ii.  p.  158. 

f  Casu  non  voluntate  iii  has  turmas  incidi :  Deumtestor.*' — The  Protestant 
historian,  Mosheim,  with  whom  Hume  agrees,  admits  that  several  of  the  prin- 
cipal agents  jn  .this  revolution  •«  were  actuated  more  by  the  impulse  of  passions 
and  views  of  interests  than  by  a  zeal  for  true  religion."  Maclaine,  vol.  iv.  p. 
135.  He  had  before  acknowledged  that  king  Gustavus  introduced  Lutheran- 
ism  into  Sweden,  in  opposition  to  the  clergy  and  bishops,  ••not  only  as  agreea- 
ble to  the  genius  and  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  but  also  as  favourable  to  thetempo- 
r:U  irtare  and  political  constitution  of  the  Swedish  dominions,"  pp.  79,  80.  He 
adds,  that  Christicrn,  who  introduced  the  reformation  into  Denmark,  was  ani- 
mated  by  no  other  motive  than  those  of  ambition  and  avarice,  p.  82.  Groti- 
us,  another  Protestant,  testifies  that  it  was  ••  sedition  and  violence  which  gave 
birtli  to  Uio  Ueformation  In  his  country,"  Holland,    Append,  de  Antichmto. 


our  OWl 
first  st( 
lous  ag 
Pope  L 
himself 
der  oft 
his  que 
I  Popen 
*  caused 
and  dec 
Thus  h( 
every  k 
evident 
word  0 
change 
Somers( 
and  stati 
for  his  o 
formati( 
lie  supj 
profliga( 
own  anc 
I  ishops, 
ccses  du 
made  a  g 
by  his  o^ 
ployed  c 
a  new  1 

The  Bame 
cd,  that  ill 
hand,  bee 
titnts  to  na 
tors  of  it, 

•  Archb 
offered  to 
ChrisU  leg 
Antiq.  Bri 
ual  jurisdi 
«^  ho  was  j 
Religion  d 

t "  Lic( 
Burnet  Hi 

tSecth 
iiament  m 
8ic.  Se 
in  Heylin, 
old,  was  t 
<>ur  subjcc 
discern  wl 
is  fit  to  be 


LeUer  VIII, 


SO 


he  formir- 
luted  with 
ianity  was 
ig  Deism, 
Ion,  in  its 
the  causes 
Ece  of  art, 
e,  and  the 
of  youth: 
his  semi- 

r»  and  im- 
ripture,  no 
uctedmen, 
ch  circum- 
or  bringing 
ent  maxim 
)usly  to  the 
tr  religious 
Europe,  at 
were  dili- 
the  ancient 
AS  adopted, 
mt  contro- 
and  states- 
,  than  theo- 
1  were  evi- 
ose  of  reli- 
3od  to  wit- 
nffly,  (that 
if  his  reli- 
le  Domini- 
ell  into  his 
irmation  in 


tett*9  History 

he  Protestant 
al  of  the  prin- 
Ise  of  passions 
ne,  Tol.  iv.  p. 
ced  Lutheran- 
inly  as  agreea- 
to  the  tempo- 

79,80.  He 
iavk,  was  ani- 

82.  Ciroti- 
;e  \¥hich  pave 
Amtichruito. 


our  own  country,  we  all  know  that  Henry  VIIL,  who  took  the 
first  step  towards  it,  was,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  so  zea- 
lous against  it  that  he  wrote  a  book,  which  he  dedicated  to 
Pope  Leo  X.  In  opposition  to  it,  and  in  return,  obtained  for 
himself  and  his  successors,  from  this  poiltiff,  the  title  of  Defen- 
der of  the  Faith,  Becoming  afterwards  enamoured  of  one  of 
his  queen's  maids  of  honour,  Ann  Bullen,  and  the  reigning 
Pope  refusing  to  sanction  an  adulterous  marriage  with  her,  he 
caused  a  statute  to  be  passed,  abrogating  the  Pope's  supremacy, 
and  declaring  himself  supreme  head  of  the  church  of  JEng-iand,* 
Thus  he  plunged  the  nation  into  schism,  and  opened  a  way  for 
every  kind  of  heresy  and  impiety.  In  short,  nothing  is  more 
evident  than  that  the  king's  inordinate  passion,  and  not  the 
word  of  God,  was  the  rule  followed  in  this  first  important 
change  of  our  national  religion.  The  unprincipled  duke  of 
Somerset,  who  next  succeeded  to  supreme  power  in  the  church 
and  state,  under  the  shadow  of  his  youthful  nephew,  Edward  VI. 
for  his  own  ambitious  and  avaricious  purposes,  pushed  on  the  Re- 
formation, so  called,  much  further  than  it  had  yet  been  carried, 
lie  suppressed  the  remaining  colleges  and  hospitals,  which  the 
profligacy  of  Henry  had  spared,  converting  their  revenues  to  his 
own  and  his  sssociates'  uses.  He  forced  Cranmer  and  the  other 
1  ishops,  to  take  out  fresh  commissions  for  governing  their  dio- 
ceses during  his  nephew's,  that  is,  his  own  good  pleasure.^  He 
made  a  great  number  of  important  changes  in  the  public  worship 
by  his  own  authority,  or  that  of  his  visitors  ^  and  when  he  em- 
ployed certain  bishops  ard  divines  in  forming  fresh  articles  and 
a  new  liturgj',  he  punished  them  with  imprisonment  if  they 

The  same  was  the  case  in  France,  Geneva,  and  Scotland.  It  is  to  be  obserr- 
ed,  tliat  in  all  these  countries  the  reformers,  ait  soon  as  they  got  the  upper 
hand,  became  violent  persecutors  of  the  Catholics.  Berger  defies  Protes- 
tants to  name  so  much  as  a  town  or  village  in  which,  when  they  became  mas- 
ters of  it,  they  tolerated  a  single  Catholic. 

*  Archbiahop  Parker  records,  that  the  bishops  assembled  in  Synod  in  1531, 
offered  to  sign  this  new  title,  with  the  following  salvo,  •*  In  quantum  per 
Christi  leges  licet  :**  but  that  the  king  would  admit  of  no  such  modification. 
Antiq.  Brit.  p.  325.  In  the  end,  they  surrendered  the  whole  of  their  spirit- 
ual jurisdiction  to  him  (all  except  the  religious  bishop  of  Rochester,  Fisher, 
\\  ho  was  put  to  death  for  his  refusal)  ard  were  content  to  publish  Artieka  of 
Religion  devined  by  the  King's  HighnefS.  Heylin  Hist,  of  Reform.  Collier,  &c. 
I  "  Licentiam  concedimus  ad  nostrum  beneplacitum  dumtaxat  duratuiam." 

,  Burnet  Hist.  Ref.  Rec.  P.  H.  B.  i.  N.  2. 

^  i  Sec  the  Injunctions  of  the  Council  to  Preachers,  published  before  the  par- 
liament met,  concerning  the  mass  in  the  Latin  langu.nge,  prayers  for  the  dead, 
8ic.  See  also  the  order  sent  to  the  ])rimate  against  palms,  ashes,  &c. 
in  Heylin,  Burnet,  and  Collier.  The  boy  Edward  VI.  just  thirteen  years 
old,  was  taught  by  his  uncle  to  proclaim  as  follows  :  •«  We  would  not  have 
nur  subjects  so  much  to  mistake  our  judgment,  &c,  as  though  wc  could  not 
discern  what  is  to  be  done,  &c.  God  be  praised,  we  know  what,  by  hisword, 
is  fit  to  be  redressed,"  Collier,  vol.  ii,  p.  246. 
7 


40 


Letter   VJII, 


■were  not  obsequious  to  his  orders*.  He  even  took  on  himsei» 
to  alter  their  work,  when  sanctioned  by  parliament,  in  compli- 
nicnt  to  the  church's  greatest  enemy,  Calvin.f  Afterwards, 
when  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne,  a  new  reformation,  differ- 
ent  in  its  articles  and  liturgy,  from  that  of  Edward  VI.,  was 
set  on  foot,  and  moulded,  not  according  to  Scripture,  but  to 
her  orders.  She  deposed  all  the  bishops  except  one,  "  the  ca- 
lamity of  his  see^''  as  he  was  called  i\  and  she  required  the  new 
ones,  whom  she  appointed,  to  renounce  certain  exercises,  which 
they  declared  to  be  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God,§  but  which 
she  found  not  to  agree  with  her  system  of  politics.  She  even 
in  full  parliament,  threatened  to  depose  them  all,  if  they  did 
not  act  conformably  to  her  views.| 

V.  The  more  strictly  the  subject  is  examined,  the  more 
clearly  it  will  appear,  that  it  was  not  in  consequence  of  any 
investigation  of  the  Scriptures,  eit'ier  public  or  private,  that 
the  ancient  Catholic  religion  was  abolished,  and  one  or  other  oi 
the  new  Protestant  religions  set  up,  in  the  different  northcti 
kingdoms  and  states  of  Europe,  but  in  consequenc  of  the  poli- 
tics of  princes  and  statesmen,  the  avarice  of  the  nobility  an;l 
gentry,  and  the  irreligion  and  licentiousness  of  the  people.  I 
will  even  advance  a  step  further,  and  affirm  that  there  is  no  ap- 
])earance  of  any  indiviaaal  Protestant,  to  whatever  sect  he  be- 
longs, having  formed  his  creed  by  the  rule  of  Sa-tptitre  alone. 
For  do  you,  sir,  really  believe  that  those  persons  of  your  com- 
munion, whom  you  see  the  most  diligent  and  devout  in  turning 
over  their  Bibles,  have  really  found  out  in  them  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  or  any  other  creed  which  they  happen  to  profess? 
To  judge  more  certainly  of  this  matter,  I  wish  those  gentlemen 
who  are  the  most  zealous  and  active  in  distributing  Bibles 
among  the  Indians,  and  Africans,  in  their  different  countries, 
would  procure,  from  some  half  dozen  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  serious  of  their  proselytes,  who  have  heard  nothing  of  the 
Christian  faith  by  any  othtr  means  than  their  Bibles,  a  summa- 
ry of  what  they  respectively  understand  to  be  the  doctrine  and 
the  morality  taught  in  that  sacred  volume.  What  inconsistent  and 

*  The  bishops  Heath  and  Gardiner  were  both  imprisoned  for  non-compli. 
ance. 

f  Heyhn  com'plaips  bitterly  of  Calvin's  pragmatical  spirit,  in  quarrelling'  with 
the  English  litu!*gy,  and  soliciting  the  protector  to  alter  it.  Preface  to  Hist, 
of  Reform.  His  letters  to  Somerset  on  the  subject  may  be  seen  in  Fox's  Ada 
and  Monvm. 

♦  Anthony  Kitch  n,  so  called  by  Godwin,  De  Prxsul,  and  Camden. 

%  This  took  place  with  respect  to  what  was  termed  prophesying,  then  prac- 
tised by  many  Protestants,  and  defended  by  arclibishop  Grindal  and  the  other 
bishops,  as  agreeably  to  God's  word :  nevertheless,  the  queen  obliged  theua 
to  suppress  it.     Col.  Eccl.  Hist.  P.  U.  p.  554,  8cc. 

I  Sac  her  curious  speech  in  parliament,  March  25,  1585*  in  Stow's  Annals.. 


Letter  VIII. 


m 


on  himseu 
in  compli- 
Vfterwards, 
tion,  differ- 
•d  VI.,  was 
ure,  but  to 
le,  "  the  ca- 
ved the  new 
cises,  which 
I  but  which 
.  She  even 
if  they  did 

I,  the  more 
;nce  of  any 
)rivate,  that 
e  or  other  ot 
nt  northcti 
of  the  poli- 
lobility  and 

people.     I 

ere  is  no  ap- 

sect  he  be- 

pture  alone. 

your  corn- 
t  in  turning 
the  Thirtv- 
1  to  profess  ? 
e  gentlemen 
iting  Bibles 
countries, 

intelligent 
thing  of  the 
:s,asumma- 
loctrine  and 
nsistent  and 

or  non-compli- 

uarrelling-  with 
'reface  to  Hist, 
n  in  Fox's  Acta 

mden. 

ing,  then  prac- 

1  and  the  other 

obliged  theiQ 

Stowr's  Annals . 


nonsensical  symbols  should  we  not  witness !  The  truth  is,  Pro- 
testants are  tutored  from  their  infancy,  by  the  help  of  cate- 
chisms and  creeds,  in  the  systems  of  their  respective  sects  ;they 
are  giVided  by  their  parents  and  masters,  and  are  influenced  bv 
the  opinions  and  example  of  those  with  whom  they  live  and 
converse,  some  particular  texts  of  scripture  are  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  their  minds,  and  others  of  an  apparent  different 
meaning,  are  kept  out  of  their  view, or  glossed  over;  and  above 
all,  it  is  constantly  inculcated  to  them,  that  their  religion  is  built 
upon  Scripture  alone ;  hence,  when  they  actually  read  the  Scrip- 
,tures,  they  fancy  they  see  there  what  they  have  been  otherwise 
^taught  to  believe ;  the  Lutheran  for  example,  that  Christ  is  re  • 
ally  present  in  the  sacniment ;  the  Calvinist,  that  he  is  as  fur 
i  distant  from  "it  as  heaven  is  from  earth;"  the  churchman, 
that  baptism  is  necessary  for  infants;  the  Baptist,  that  it  is  im- 
piety to  confer  it  upon  them ;  and  so  of  all  the  other  forty  sects 
of  Protestants,  enumerated  by  Evans,  in  his  Sketch  of  the  dif- 
ferent Denominations  of  Christiana^  and  of  twice  forty  other 
sects,  whom  he  omits  to  mention. 

When  I  remarked  that  our  blessed  Master  Jesus  Christ 
wrote  no  part  of  the  New  Testament  himself,  and  gave  no  or- 
ders to  his  apostles  to  write  it,  I  ought  to  have  added  that,  if 
he  had  intended  it,  together  with  the  Old  Testament^  to  be  the 
sole  rule  of  religion,  he  would  have  provided  means  for  their 
being  able  to  follow  it ;  knowing,  as  he  certainly  did,  that  nine- 
ty-nine in  every  hundred,  or  rath-  r  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  in  every  thousand,  in  different  ages  and  countries ^  would 
not  be  able  to  read  at  all,  an(i  mu<  h  less  to  comprehend  a  page 
of  the  sacred  writings :  yet  no  such  means  were  provided  by 
him :  nor  has  he  so  much  as  enjoined  it  to  his  followers  in  ge» 
ntral  to  study  letters. 

Another  observation  on  this  subject,  and  a  very  obvious  one 
is,  that  among  those  Christians,  who  profess  that  the  Bible  alone 
is  the  rule  of  their  religion,  there  ought  to  be  no  article-^  nc» 
catechisms,  no  sermons,  nor  other  instructions.  True  jt  is, 
that  the  abolition  of  these,  however  incompatible  they  are  with 
the  rule  itself,  would  quickly  undermine  the  established  church, 
as  its  clergy  now  begin  to  understand,  and,  if  universally 
carried  into  effect,  would  in  the  end,  efface  the  whole  doctrine 
and  morality  of  the  Gospel:*  but  this  consequence  only  shows 
more  clearly  the  falsehood  of  that  exclusive  rule.     In  fact,  the 


// 


t-?(l  ■•■!«( 


'r\ 


•  The  Protestant  writers,  Kett  and  Robinson,  have  shown,  in  the  passage* 
shove  quoted,  how  tlie  principle  of  private  judgment  tends  to  undermine 
tliristianity  at  large ;  and  archdeacon  Hook,  in  his  late  Charge,  shows,  by  an 

F 


41i 


Letter  VIII 


most  enlightened  Protestants  find  themselves  here  in  a  dilemma. 
and  are  obliged  to  say  and  unsay,  to  the  amusement  d'  some 
persons,  and  the  pity  of  others.*  They  cannot  ahandon  the 
rule  of  the  Bible  alojie,  as  explained  by  each  one  for  hi  in  sell., 
without  proclaiming  their  guilt  in  refusing  to  hear  the  Catholic 
church ;  and  they  cannot  adhere  to  it,  without  opening  the  flood- 
gates to  all  the  impiety  and  immorality  of  the  age  ujion  their 
own  communion. — I  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  notice  thc 
claims  of  the  established  church  to  authority,  in  determinin}?; 
the  sense  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  in  other  religious  controver- 
sies :  in  the  mean  time,  I  cannot  but  observe  that  her  most  able 
defenders  are  frequently  obliged  to  abandon  their  own,  and 
adopt  the  Catholic  rule  of  faith.  The  judicious  Hooker,  in  his 
defence  of  the  church  of  England,  writes  thus,  ^^  Of  this  we  arc 
right  sure,  that  nature,  Scripture,  and  experience  itself,  ha\-e 
taught  the  world  to  seek  for  the  ending  of  contentions,  by  sub- 
mitting to  some  ju(Ucial  and  definite  sentence,  whereunto  nei 
ther  party  that  contendeth  may,  under  any  pretence  or  colour, 
refuse  to  stand.  This  must  needs  be  effectual  and  strong.  As 
for  other  means,  without  this,  they  seldom  prevail."f  Ano- 
ther most  clear-headed  writer,  and  renowned  defender  of  the 
establishment,  whom  I  had  the  happiness  of  being  acquainted 
with.  Dr.  Balguy4  thus  expresses  nimself,  in  a  Charge  to  the 
clergy  of  hid  archdeaconry:  **The  opinions  of  the  people  are 
and  must  be  foimded  more  on  authority  than  reason.  Their 
parents,  their  teachers,  their  governors,  in  a  great  measure,  de- 
termine for  them,  what  they  are  to  believe  and  what  to  prac- 
tise. The  same  doctrines  uniformly  taught,  the  same  rites  con- 
stantly performed,  make  such  an  impression  on  their  minds, 
that  diey  hesitate  as  little  in  admittmg  the  articles  of  their 

exact  statement  of  capltml  convictions  in  diflerent  years,  tlmt  the  increase  of 
immorality  has  kept  pace  with  that  of  the  Bible  societies. 

*  One  of  the  latest  instances  of  the  distress  in  question  was  exhibited  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Marsh.  In  hit  publication,  Tfie  Inquiry,  p.  4,  he  suid,  very 
truly,  that  "the  poor  (who  constitute  tlie  bullc  of  mankind)  cannot  without 
assistance  understand  the  Scriptures."  Heinj;^  congmtulated  on  this  impor- 
tant, yet  unavoidable  concession,  by  the  Key.  Mr.  Gandolphy,  he  tacks  about, 
in  a  public  letter  to  tliat  gentleman,  and  says,  that  what  he  wrote,  in  his  In 
fuiry,  concerninic  the  necessity  of  a  further  rule  titnn  mere  Scripture  only, 
regards  the  e«/ao/aAmefM(  of  religion,  not  tlie  truth  o(\t:  just  as  if  that  rule 
were  sufficient  to  conduct  the  people  to  tlic  truth  of  religiun,  while  he  ex- 
prcssly  says  they  cannot  underatand  it. 

f  Hooker's  Eccles.  Pohtic.  Pref.  art.  6. 

i  Discourses  on  various  Subjects,  by  T.  Ralguy,  D.  D.  archdeacon  and 
prebendary  of  Winchester.     Some  of  these  discourses  were  prcuched  at  tlic 
consecration  of  bishops,  and  publislicd  by  order  of  the  archbishop  ;  ««)me  in 
Charges  to  the  Cle**gy.  The  wiiolc  of  them  are  dedicated  to  the  king,  whom  \ 
the  writer  thanks  for  naming  him  to  a  higli  dignity  (thu  bishopric  of  (douce 
•Icr),  and  for  permitting  him  to  decline  accepting  of  it. 


L5 


Letter  VIII. 


43 


»  dilemmn. 
nt  <:!  some 
)an«l<in  the 
)r  hhnsc'ir, 
K  Catliolic 

the  fliMxl- 
ujx)!!  their 
)  notice  the 
etermininp; 
controver- 
:r  most  able 
'  own,  and 
oker,  in  his 
this  we  arc 
itself,  have 
)ns,  by  suh- 
reunto  nei 
B  or  colour, 
trong.    At 

^t  Ano- 
nder  of  the 
acquainted 
\arge  to  the 
I  people  are 
son.  Their 
(leasure,  de- 
hat  to  prac- 
(le  rites  con- 
heir  minds, 
les  of  their 

he  increase  of 

s  exhibited  by 
,  he  said,  very 
:unnot  without 
on  this  iiTipor* 
be  tacks  about, 
rote,  in  his  In 
Scripture  only, 
as  it'  that  rule 
I,  wliile  he  ex* 


pchdeacon  and 
reached  at  tlic 
shop  J  some  in 
ic  kinfif,  whom 
pric  ot'tiluucu- 


Inith,  as  in  receiving  the  most  established  maxims  of  common 
life."*  With  such  testimonies  before  your  eyes,  can  you,  dear 
sir,  imagine  that  the  bulk  of  Protestants  have  formed  their  reli- 
gion by  the  standard  of  Scripture?  He  goes  on  to  say,  speaking 
of  controverted  points :  "  Would  you  have  them  (the  people) 
think  for  themselves?  Would  you  have  them  hear  and  decide 
the  controversies  of  the  learned  ?  Would  you  have  them  enter 
J  to  the  depths  of  criticism,  of  logic,  of  scholastic  divinity? 
You  might  as  well  expect  thim  to  compute  an  eclipse,  or  de- 
cide between  the  Cartesian  and  Newtonian  philosophy.  Nay, 
I  will  go  farther:  for  I  take  upon  myself  to  say,  there  are 
more  men  capable,  in  some  competent  degree,  of  understand- 
iiig  Newton's  philosophy,  than  of  forming  any  judgment  at  all 
(oucerning  the  abstruser  questions  in  metaphysics  and  theolo- 
g\ ."  Yet  the  persons,  of  whom  the  doctor  particularly  speaks, 
\»cre  all  furnished  with  Bibles;  and  the  abstruse  questions, 
vhich  he  refers  to,  are:  "Whether  Christ  did  or  did  not  come 
down  from  heaven?"  M'hether  **he  died  or  did  not  die  for  the 
sins  of  the  world?"  whether  "he  sent  his  Holy  Spirit  to  assist 
r.nd  comfort  us  or  whether  he  did  not  send  him  ?"  f  The  learn- 
t  d  doctor  elsewhere  expresses  himself  still  more  explicitly  on 
the  subject  of  Scripture,  without  church  authority.  He  iscom- 
liuting  the  dissenters,  but  his  weapons  are  evidently  as  fatal  to 
his  own  church  as  to  theirs.  "It  has  long  been  held  among 
liiem,  that  Scripture  only  is  the  rule  and  test  of  all  religious 
ordinances  i  and  that  human  authority  is  to  be  altogether  ex- 
ciuded.  Their  ancestors,  I  believe,  would  have  been  not  a 
little  embarrassed  with  their  own  maxim,  if  they  had  not  pos- 
S4.'ssed  a  singular  talent  of  seeing  every  thing  in  Scribture 
li/iich  they  had  a  mind  to  aee.  Almost  every  sect  coula  find 
there  its  own  peculiar  form  of  church  government;  and  while 
they  enforced  only  their  own  imaginations^  they  believed  them- 
M'hes  to  be  executing  the  decrees  of  heaven.^^i 

I  conclude  this  long  letter,  with  a  passage  to  the  present  pur- 
pose from  our  admired  theological  poet: 

••  As  lonjf  M  words  a  different  i»ente  will  bear, 

And  each  may  be  his  own  interpreter, 

Our  airy  ^th  will  no  foimdation  find  : 

The  woi'ds  a  weathercock  for  every  wind."^ 

I  I  am.  Dear  Sir,  {fic. 

'  J.  M. 


•  Discourses  on  various  Subject*,  by  T,  Halguy,  D.  II.  p.  257.     t 
i  Discourse  VII.  p.  I'i6.     §   Dryden's  Hind  and  Tanther,  fmt    1. 


'lid. 


J-. 


(    *4    ) 


T', 


'T'^y'^r-      "/'    LETTER  IX. 

'       ,i      TO  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq, 

V  SECOND  FALSE  RULE, 

< .'  '    ■ 

Dear  Sir, 

AFTER  all  that  I  have  written  concerning  the  rule  of  faith, 
adopted  by  yourself  and  other  more  rational  Protestants,  I  have 
only  yet  treated  of  the  extrinsic  arguments  against  it.  I  no^/, 
therefore  proceed  to  investigate  its  intrinsic  nature^  in  order  to 
show  more  fully  the  inadequacy,  or  rather  the  falsehood  of  it. 

When  an  English  Protestant  gets  possession  of  an  English 
Bible,  printed  by  Thomas  Basket,  or  other  "printer  to  the 
king's  most  excellent  majesty,"  he  takes  it  in  hand  with  the 
same  confidence,  as  if  he  had  immediately  received  it  from  the 
Almighty  himself,  as  Moses  received  the  Tables  of  the  Law 
on  Mount  Sina,  amidst  thunder  and  lightening.  But  how  vain 
is  this  confidence,  whilst  he  adheres  to  the  foregoing  rule  of 
faith !  How  many  questionable  points  does  he  assume,  as  proved, 
which  cannot  be  proved,  without  relinquishing  his  own  princi- 
ples and  adopting  ours ! 

I.  Supposing  then  you,  dear  sir,  to  be  the  Protestant  I  have 
been  speaking  of;  1  begin  with  asking  you,  by  what  means  have 
vou  learnt  the  canon  of  Scripture,  that  is  to  say,  which  are  the 
i)ooks  which  have  been  written  by  divine  inspiration ;  or  indeed 
that  any  books  at  all,  have  been  so  written  ?  You  cannot  disco- 
\tr  either  of  these  things  by  your  rule,  because  the  Scripture, 
as  your  gi'eat  authority  Hooker  shows,*  and  Chillingworth  al- 
lows cannot  bear  testimony  to  itself.  You  will  say  that  the  Old 
Testament  was  written  by  Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  the 
New  Testament  by  the  apostles  of  Christ  and  the  evangtlists. 
But  admitting  all  this;  it  does  not  of  itself  prove  that  they  cil- 
wnys  wrote,  or  indeed  that  they  ever  wrote,  under  the  influ- 
ciK  e  of  inspiration.  They  were,  by  nature,  fV-Uible  men:  how 
have  you  learnt  that  they  were  infallible  writers?  In  the  next 
place,  you  receive  books,  as  canonical  parts  of  the  Testament, 
which  were  not  written  by  apostles  at  all;  namely,  the  Gospels 
of  St  Mark  and  St.  Luke,  whilst  you  reject  an  authentic  work 
ol  great  excellence,!  written  by  one  who  is  termed  in  Scripturo 

•  Kcclrs.  P<»lit.  b.  ii'i.  nee.  o. 

t  St.  U:irimhy.     Set*  (irube's  Spiciicg.  and  Cotlcnis's  Collect. 


II 


Letter  JX, 


45 


ulc  of  faith, 
ants,  I  have 

it.  I  no\/, 
,  in  order  to 
;hood  of  it. 

an  English 
inter  to  the 
d  with  the 

it  from  the 
of  the  Law 
lit  how  vain 
oing  rule  of    , 
e,  as  proved,    \ 
own  princi-    > 

stant  I  have 
t  means  have  | 
dich  are  the  i' 
n  ;  or  indeed  ^ 
annot  disco-  t 
le  Scripture,  f 
ingworth  ;il-  f 
that  the  Old 
irts,  and  the  [ 
evangelists.  [, 
hat  they  «/-  ■ 
er  the  influ- 
ie  men:  how 
In  the  next 
Testament, 
the  Gospels 
hentic  work 
in  Scripture 

ct. 


an  apostle^*  and  declared  to  he  full  of  the  Holy  Ghoat^]  I  speak 
of  St  Bamaby.  Lastly,  you  have  no  sufficient  authority  for 
asserting  that  the  sacred  volumes  are  the  genuine  compositiou 
of  the  holy  personages  whose  names  they  bear,  except  the  tra- 
dition and  living  voice  of  the  Catholic  church,  since  numerous 
apochryphal  prophecies  and  spurious  gospels  and  epistles,  under 
the  same  or  equally  venerable  names,  were  circulated  in  the 
rhurch,  during  its  early  ages,  and  accredited  by  different  learn- 
ed writers  and  holy  fathers :  while  some  of  the  really  canonical 
books  were  rejected  or  doubted  of  by  them.  In  short,  it  was 
not  until  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  that  the  genuine  canon 
of  Holy  Scripture  was  fixed:  and  then  it  was  fixed  by  the  tra- 
aitioii  and  authority  of  the  churchy  declared  in  the  Third  Coun- 
cil of  Carthage  and  a  Decretal  of  P.  Innocent  I.  Indeed,  it  is 
so  clear  that  the  canon  of  Scripture  is  built  on  the  tradition  of 
the  church,  that  most  learned  Protestants,:|:  with  Luther  him- 
self, have§  been  forced  to  acknowledge  it,  in  terms  almost  as 
strong  as  those  in  the  well  known  declaration  of  St  Augustine.J 
II.  Again,  sup  ^osing  the  divine  authority  of  the  Sacred  Books 
themselves  to  b.  blished ;  how  do  you  know  that  the  copies 
of  them  transla  ..td  printed  in  your  Bible  are  authentic  ?  It 
is  agreed  upon  amongst  the  learned,  that  the  original  text  of 
Moses  and  the  ancient  prophets  was  destroyed,  with  the  tem- 
ple and  city  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Assyrians  under  Nebuchad- 
nezzar ;5|  and,  the  ^h  they  were  replaced  by  authentic  copies, 
at  the  end  of  the  Babylonish  captivity,  through  the  pious  care 
of  the  prophet  Esdras  or  Ezra,  yet  that  these  also  perished  in 
the  subsequent  persecution  of  Antiochus  ;**  from  which  time  we 
have  no  evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Old  Testament  till 
this  was  supplied  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  who  transmitted 
it  to  the  church.  In  like  manner,  granting,  for  example,  that 
St.  Paul  wrote  an  inspired  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  another 
to  the  Ephesians;  yet  as  the  former  was  intrusted  to  an  indi- 
vidual, the  deaconess  Phebe,  to  be  conveyed  by  her  to  its  des- 
tination,! f  and  the  latter  to  his  disciple  Tycliicus,:j;|:  for  the 
same  purpose,  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  entertain  a  rational 
conviction  that  these  Epistles  as  they  stand  in  your  Testament, 

•  Acts  xiv.  24.  t  Acts  \\.  24. 

♦  Hooker,  Eccl.  Polit.  C.  iii.  S.  8    Dr.  Lardner,  in  Bishop   Yatson's  Col. 
vol.  ii.  p.  20. 

^  h  **  We  are  obliged  to  yield  many  things  to  the  Papists — tliat  with  them 
is  the  word  of  God,  which  we  received  fVom  them ;  otherwise  we  should  have 
known  nothing  at  all  about  it."  Comment,  on  John  c.  16. 

I  "  I  should  not  believe  the  (iospel  itself,  if  the  authority  of  the  Catholic 
ciiurch  did  not  oblige  me  to  do  so."  Contra  Kpist.  Fundam. 


1  Ilrett's  Dissert,  in  bishop  Watson's  Collect,  vol.  iii.  p.  5 
••  Ibid.    ^^    If  Kom.  xvi.  Sec  Calmct,  84c.  ♦t  Kpl 


les.  vi.  21  • 


4G 


f.etttr  IX, 


are  exactly  in  the  state  in  which  thev  issued  from  the  apostle's 
pen  or  that  they  are  his  genuine  Episties  at  all,  without  recur- 
ring to  the  tradition  and  authority  of  the  Catholic  church  con- 
cerning them.  To  make  short  of  this  matter,  I  will  not  lead 
you  into  the  '  ibyrinth  of  Biblical  criticism,  nor  will  I  show  you 
the  endless  aneties  of  readings  with  respect  to  words  and 
whole  passages,  which  occur  in  different  copies  of  the  Sacred 
Text,  b\it  will  here  content  myself  with  referring  you  to  your 
own  Bible  Book,  as  printed  by  authority.  Look  then  at  psahn 
xiv,  as  it  occurs  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to  which 
your  clergy  swear  their  *^  consent  and  assent ;"  then  look  at  the 
same  psalm  in  your  Bible :  you  will  find  four  whole  verses  in  the 
former,  which 'are  left  out  of  tl.^  latter!  What  will  you  here: 
say,  dear  sir?  You  must  say  that  your  church  has  added  to,  or 
else  that  she  has  taken  ctway  from^  the  words  of  this  prophecy!^ 
III.  But  your  pains  and  perplexities  concerning  your  rule  of 
faith  must  not  stop  even  at  this  point :  for  though  you  had  de- 
monstrative evidence,  that  the  several  books  in  your  Bible  are 
canonical  and  authentic,  in  the  originals,  it  would  still  remain 
for  you  to  inquire  whether  or  no  they  are  faithfullij  transhited 
in  your  English  copy.  In  fact,  you  are  aware  that  they  were 
written,  some  of  them  in  Hebrew  and  some  of  them  in  Greek, 
out  of  which  languages  they  were  translated,  for  the  last  time, 
by  about  fifty  different  men,  of  various  capacities,  learning, 


judgment,  opinions,  and  prejudices.!  In  this  inquir}%  the  Ca- 
tholic church  herself  can  afltord  you  no  security  to  build  your 
faith  upon  ;  much  less  can  any  private  individuals  whosoever. 
The  celebrated  Protestant  divine,  Episcopius,  was  so  convinced 
of  the  fallibility  of  modem  translations,  that  he  wanted  all  sorts 
of  persons,  labourers,  sailors,  women,  &c.  to  learn  Hebrew  an;l 
Greek.  Indeed,  it  is  obvious  that  the  sense  of  the  text  may 
depend  upon  the  choice  of  a  single  word  in  the  translation :  nay, 
it  sometimes  depends  upon  the  mere  punctuation  of  a  sentence, 
«8  may  be  seen  below.  J      Can  you  then,  consistently,  reject  the 


1*1 


•  Tlie  verses  in  question  beinr  quoted  by  St.  Paul,  Rom.  iii.  13,  &c.  there 
18  no  doubt  but  the  common  Bible  w  defective  in  this  passage.— On  the  otlur 
hand,  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  has  published  his  conviction  that  the  most  im- 
portant passage  in  the  New  Testament,  1  John  v.  7,  for  establishing  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  "is  spurious."    Elem.  of  Theo.  vol.  ii.  p,  90 

t  See  a  list  of  them  in  Ant.  Johnson's  Hist.  Account.  Theo.  Collect,  p. 
9S\ 

X  One  of  the  strongest  passages  for  the  divinity  of  Christ  is  the  following, 
•s  it  is  pointed  in  the  Vulgate  :  Ex  quibua  est  Chrittus,  seamdem  camem,  ^/i 
est  *»per  omnia  Deu$  benedictua  in  aaeeula.  Rom.  ix.  5.  But  see  how  Grotiua 
and  Socinus  deprive  the  text  of  all  its  strength,  by  merely  substituting  a 
point  for  a  comma  :  Ex  quibua  eat  Chrittui,  Kcundcm  camem.  (^i  eU  iruper 
0mnia  JJeui  benedidiu  in  awcula. 


•♦rU^" 


Letter  IX, 


4r 


;  apostle's 
out  recur- 
lurch  con- 
11  not  lead 

show  you 
mrds  and 
he  Sacred 
)u  to  your 
\  at  psalm 

to  which 
ook  at  the 
rses  in  ihc 
,  vou  hery 
Ided  to,  or 
rophecij  /* 
)ur  rule  of 
3U  had  de- 
:  Bible  are 
ill  remain 

translated 
they  were 

in  Greek, 

last  time, 
,  learning, 


y 


the  Ca- 


)uild  your 
whosoever, 
convinced 
ed  all  sorts 
ebrew  and 
;  text  may 
ation :  nay, 
a  sentence, 
,  reject  the 

3,  8ic.  there 
On  tlie  other 
tlie  most  im. 
iblishing  the 
ii.  p.  90 
».  Collect,  p. 

le  following-, 
>  eamemj  (fui 

how  Grotuis 
ubstitutinff  » 

Qm  at  Kupcr 


^ 


authority  of  the  great  universal  church,  and  yet  build  upon  that 
of  some  obscure  translator  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  ?  No,  sir ; 
you  must  yourself  have  compared  your  English  Bible  with  the 
originals,  and  have  proved  it  to  be  a  faithful  version,  before 
you  can  build  your  faith  upon  it  as  upon  the  Word  of  God.  To 
say  one  word  now  of  the  Bibles  themselves,  which  have  been 
published  by  authority,  or  generally  used  by  Protestants,  in 
this  country.  Those  of  Tindal,  Coverdale,  and  queen  Eliza- 
beth's bishops,  were  so  notoriously  corrupt,  as  to  cause  a 
general  outcry  against  them,  among  learned  Protestants,  as 
well  as  among  Catholics,  in  which  the  king  (James  I.)  joined 
himself,*  who  accordingly  ordered  a  new  version  of  it  to  be  made, 
being  the  same  that  is  now  in  use,  with  some  few  alterations 
made  after  the  restoration,}  Now,  though  these  new  transla- 
tors have  corrected  many  wilful  errors  of  their  predecessors, 
most  of  which  were  levelled  at  Catholic  doctrines  and  disci- 
pline,:^ yet  they  have  left  a  sufficient  number  of  these  behind, 
for  which  I  do  not  find  that  their  advocates  offer  any  excuse.^ 
IV,  I  will  make  a  further  supposition,  namely,  that  you  had 
the  certainty  even  of  revelation,  as  the  Calvinists  used  to  pre- 
tend they  had,  that  your  Bible  is  not  only  canonical^  authentic^ 
sndfaithfuly  in  its  English  garb  ;  yet  what  would  all  this  avail 
you,  towards  establishmg  your  rule  of  faith,  unless  you  could 
be  equally  certain  ol  your  understanding'  the  whole  of  it  rightly  ? 
For,  as  the  learned  Protestant  bishop  Walton  says,|  "  The 
Word  of  God  does  not  consist  in  mere  letters,  whether  written 
or  printed,  but  in  the  true  sense  of  it;5[  which  no  one  can  bet- 
ter interpret  than  the  true  church,  to  which  Christ  committed 
this  sacred  pledge."  This  is  exactly  what  St,  Jerom  and  St. 
Augustin  had  said  many  ages  before  him,  "  Let  us  be  per- 
suaded," says  the  former,  "  that  the  Gospel  consists  not  in  the 
words,  but  in  the  sense,     A  wrong  explanation  turns  the  Word 

•  Bishop  Watson's  Collect,  vol.  iii.  p.  98.  +  Ibid. 

i  These  may  be  found  in  the  learned  Greg-.  Martin's  treatise  on  tne  subject,, 
and  in  Ward's  Errata  to  the  Protestant  Bible. 

§  Two  of  these  I  had  occasion  to  notice,  in  the  Inquiry  into  the  Character 
of  the  Iriah  Catholics^  namely,  1  Cor.  xi.  27,  where  the  conjunctive  anrf  is  put 
wv  the  disjunctive  or  ;  and  Mat.  xix.  11,  where  cannot  is  put  for  do  not  .•  to 
the  altering  of  the  sense,  in  both  instances.  Now,  though  these  coiTuplions 
stand  in  direct  opposition  to  the  original,  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grier  and  Dr.  Ryan 
themselves  quote  it,  yet  these  writers  have  the  confidence  to  deny  they  are 
corruptions,  because  they  pretend  to  prove,  from  other  texts,  that  the  cup  i» 
necesaary,  and  that  conttnency  ia  not  necetaary  .'.'  Answer  to  Ward's  Enuta, 
p.  13,  page  33. 

1  In  the  Prolegomena  to  his  Poliglott,  cap.  v. 

1  This  obvious  truth  shows  the  extreme  absurdity  of  our  Bible  societies  antl 
modem  schools,  which  reganl  nothing  but  the  mere  reading  of  the  Bible^ 
leaving  persons  to  embrace  the  most  opposite  intep»'''tatJons  of  the  sam« 

tlUElS. 


43 


Letter  IX, 


of  God  into  the  word,  of  man,  and  what  is  worse,  into  the  word 
of  the  devil ;  for  the  devil  himself  could  quote  the  text  of 
Scripture."*  Now  that  there  are  in  Scripture  things  hard  to  be 
understood^  xvhich  the  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest  unto  their 
0W71  destruction^  is  expressly  affirmed  in  it.f  The  same  thing 
is  proved  by  the  frequent  mistakes  of  the  apostles  themselves, 
with  respect  to  tl'.e  words  of  their  divine  Master.  These  ob- 
scurities ar  o  :  amberless  throughout  the  sacred  volumes, 
that  the  last  c^aoted  father,  who  was  as  bright  and  learned  a 
divine  as  ever  took  the  Bible  in  hand,  says  of  it,  "  There  are 
more  things  in  Scripture  that  I  am  ignorant  of  than  those  I 
know.":|:  Should  you  prefer  a  modern  Protestant  authority  to 
an  ancient  Catholic  one,  listen  to  the  clear-headed  Dr.  Balguy. 
His  words  are  these :  "  But  what,  you  will  reply,  is  all  this  to 
Christians  ?  to  those  who  see,  by  a  clear  and  strong  light,  the 
dispensation  of  God  to  mankind  ?  We  are  not  as  those  who 
have  no  hope.  The  day-spring  from  on  high  hath  visited  us. 
The  spirit  of  God  shall  lead  us  into  all  truth. — To  this  delusive 
dream  of  human  folly,  founded  only  on  mistaken  interpreta- 
tions of  Scripture  ;  I  answ  er,  in  one  word  :  Open  your  Bibles : 
take  the  first-page  that  occurs  in  either  Testament,  and  tell  me 
without  disguise  ;  is  there  nothing  in  it  too  hard  for  your  un- 
derstanding ?  If  you  find  all  before  you  clear  and  easy,  you  may 
thank  God  for  giving  you  a  privilege  which  he  has  denied  to 
many  thousands  of  sincere  believers."^ 

Manifold  is  the  cause  of  the  obscurity  of  Holy  Writ;  1st, 
the  sublimity  of  a  considerable  part  of  it,  which  speaks  either 
literally  or  figuratively  of  the  Deity  and  his  attributes  j  of  the 
Word  incarnate ;  of  angels,  and  other  spiritual  beings  : — 2dly, 
the  mysterious  nature  of  prophecy  in  general : — 3dly,  the  pe- 
culiar idioms  of  the  Hebrew  ^nd  Greek  languages : — lastly, 
the  numerous  and  bold  figures  of  speech,  such  as  allegory, 
irony,  hyperbole,  catachresis,  and  antiphrasis,  which  are  so 
frequent  with  the  sacred  penmen,  particularly  the  ancient 
prophets.!  I  should  like  to  hear  any  one  of  those,  who  pre- 
tend to  find  the  Scripture  so  easy,  attempting  to  give  a  clear 
explanation  of  the  67th,  alius  the  68th,  psalm  ;  or  the  last  chap- 
ter  of  Ecelesiastes.  Is  it  any  easy  matter  to  reconcile  certain 
well-known  speeches  of  each  of  the  holy  patriarchs,  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  with  the  incommutal^le  precept  of  truth  ?  I 
may  here  notice,  among  a  thousand  other  such  difficulties,  that 

•  In.  r.p  ad  Galat.  contra  Lucif.  f  2  Pet.  iii.  16. 

4  St.  A\ip;'.  Kp.  adJanuar.  •   '  '         .•    ;.  * 

§  Dr.  Hiil|ijtiy'»  Discourses,  p.  133. 

I  H'-e  examples  of  tliosc,  in  Uonfrorius's  I'rTloquia,  and  in  the  Appendixci 
to  tin:m,  at  tlic  end  uf  Menocliius. 


H 


I 


1 


Letter  IX, 


49 


when  our  Saviour  sent  his  twelve  apostles  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  he  told  them,  according 
to  St.  Matthew  x,  10,  Provide  neither  gold  nor  silver — neither 
shoes  nor  yet  staves :  whereas  St,  Mark  vi.  says,  He  command- 
ed them  that  they  should  take  nothing  for  their  journey^  save  a 
staf  only.  You  rnay  indeed  answer,  with  Chillingworth  and 
bishop  Porteus,  that  whatever  obscurities  there  may  be  in  cer- 
tain parts  of  Scripture,  it  is  clear  in  all  that  is  necessary  to  be 
known.  But  on  what  authority  do  these  writers  ground  this 
maxim  ?  They  have  none  at  all ;  but  they  heg  the  question^  as 
logicians  express  it,  to  extricate  themselves  from  an  absurdity, 
and  in  so  doing  they  overturn  their  fundamental  rule.  They 
profess  to  gather  their  articles  of  faith  and  morals  from  mere 
Scripture  :  nevertheless,  confessing  that  they  understand  only 
a  part  of  it ;  they  presume  to  make  a  distinction  in  it,  and  to 
siiy  this  part  is  necessary  to  be  known,  the  other  part  is  not  ne- 
cessary. But  to  place  this  matter  in  a  clearer  light,  it  is  obvi- 
ous tliat  if  any  articles  are  particularly  necessary  to  be  known 
ami  believed,  they  are  those  which  point  to  the  God  whom  we 
.irc  to  adore,  and  the  moral  precepts  which  we  are  to  observe. 
Now,  is  it  demonstratively  evident,  from  r%ere  Scripture,  that 
Christ  is  God,  and  to  be  ado^  1  as  such  ?  Most  modern  Pro- 
testants of  eminence  answer  ^s  O  ;  and,  in  defence  of  their  as- 
sertion, quote  the  following  among  other  texts :  The  Father  is 
greater  than  /,  John  xiv.  28  ;  to  which  the  orthodox  divines 
oppose  those  texts  of  the  same  evangelist,  !  and  the  Father  arc 
one,  X.  30.  The  Word  was  God,  &c.  i.  1.  Again  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing among  the  moral  precepts  of  the  Old  Testament :  Go  thy 
way ;  eat  thy  bread  with  joy,  and  drink  thy  wine  with  a  merry 
heart :  for  God  now  accepteth  thy  works.  Let  thy  garments 
be  always  white,  and  let  thy  head  lack  no  ointment.  Live  Joy- 
fully xvith  the  wife  whom  thou  lovest,  &c.  Eccles.  ix.  7,  8,  9. 
In  the  New  Testament,  we  meet  with  the  following  seeming- 
ly practical  commands.  Swear  not  at  all.  Mat.  v.  34.  Call 
no  man  father  upon  earth — neither  be  you  called  masters,  for  one 
in  your  master,  Christ,  Mat.  xxiii,  9.  10,  If  any  man  sue  thee 
'it  hnv,  to  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also,  v.  46. 
Give  to  every  man  that  asketh  of  thee;  and  of  him  that  taketh 
away  thy  goods  ask  him  not  again,  Luke  vi.  33.  When  thou 
makcst  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends  nor  thy  brethren, 
xiv.  12.  These  are  a  few  among  hundreds  of  other  difficul- 
ties, regarding  our  moral  duties,  which,  though  confronted  by 
other  texts,  seemingly  of  a  contrary  meaning,  neverthelesis  show 
that  the  Scripture  is  not,  of  itself,  demonstratively  clear  in  points 
of  fust  rate  importance,  and  that  the  divine  law,  like  human 

Ci 


50 


Letter  IX 


laws,  without  an  authorized  interpreter,  must  ever  be  a  source 
of  doubt  and  contention. 

V.  I  have  said  enough  concerning  the  contentions  among  Pro- 
testants ;  I  will  now,  by  way  of  concluding  this  letter,  say  a  word 
or  two  of  their  doubts.  In  die  first  place,  it  is  certain,  as  a  learn- 
ed Catholic  controvertist  argues,*  that  a  person  who  follows 
your  rule  cannot  make  an  act  offaith^  this  being,  according  to 
your  great  authority,  bishop  Pearson,  an  assent  to  the  revealed 
articles,  with  a  certain  arid  full  persuasion  of  their  revealed 
truth  ;f  or,  to  use  the  words  of  your  primate,  Wake,  "  When  I 
give  my  assent  to  what  God  has  revesJed,  I  do  it,  not  only  with 
a  certain  assurance  that  what  I  believe  is  true^  but  with  an  ab- 
solute security  that  it  cannot  be  false  "\  Now  the  Protestant, 
who  has  nothing  to  trust  to  but  his  ov*n  talents,  in  interpreting 
of  the  books  of  Scripture,  especially  with  all  the  difficulties  and 
uncertainties  which  he  labours  under,  according  to  what  I  have 
shown  above,  never  can  rise  to  this  certain  assurance  and  ahsa- 
iute  security^  as  to  what  is  revealed  in  Scripture :  the  utmost 
he  can  say  is,  Such  and  such  appears  to  me,  at  the  present  mo- 
ment^ to  be  the  sense  of  the  texts  before  me :  and,  if  he  is  candid, 
he  will  add,  but  perhaps^  upon  further  consideration^  and  upon 
comparing"  thette  with  other  texts,  J  may  alter  my  opinion.  How 
far  short,  dear  sir,  is  such  mere  opinion  from  the  certainty  of 
faith!  I  may  here  refer  you  to  your  own  experience.  Are 
you  accustomed,  in  reading  your  Bible,  to  conclude,  in  your 
own  mind,  with  respect  to  those  points  which  appear  to  you 
most  clear,  /  believe  in  these,  with  a  certain  assurance  of  their 
truth,  and  an  absolute  security  that  they  cannot  be  false;  espe- 
cially when  you  ieflect  that  other  learned,  intelligent,  and  sin- 
cere Christians  have  understood  those  passages  in  quite  a  dif- 
ferent sense  from  what  you  do  ?  For  my  part,  having  some- 
times lived  and  conversed  familiarly  with  Protestants  of  this 
description,  and  noticed  their  controversial  discourses,  I  never 
found  one  of  them  absolutely  fixed,  for  any  long  time  together, 
in  his  mind,  as  to  the  whole  of  his  belief.  I  invite  you  to  make 
the  etperiment  on  the  most  intelligent  and  religious  Protestant 
of  your  acquaintance.  Ask  him  a  considerable  number  of  ques- 
tions, on  the  most  important  points  of  his  religion:  note  down 
his  answers,  while  they  are  fresh  in  your  memory.  Ask  him 
the  same  questions,  but  in  a  different  order,  a  month  after- 
wards, when  I  can  almost  venture  to  say,  you  will  be  surprised 
at  the  difference  you  will  find  between  his  former  and  his  hu- 


J. 


•  Shf.ffmachcr  Letlrea  d'un  Doctcur  Cat.  a  un  Gcntilhomme  Prol.  vol.  i.  p. 
B. 

t  On  the  Creed,  p.  15 


«   ^     ♦  Pnncin.  of  Chmt.  Rcl.  p.  27. 


Letter  IX. 


51 


be  a  source 

imong  Pro- 
say  a  word 

as  a  leam- 
rho  follows 
ccordJng  to 
he  revealed 
ir  revealed 
,  "  When  I 
»t  only  with 
with  an  ab- 
Protestant, 
interpreting 
acuities  and 
\rhat  I  have 
:e  and  ahsa- 

the  utmost 
present  mo- 
c  is  candid, 
n,  and  upon 
inion.  How 
certainty  of 
ence.  Are 
ide,  in  your 
pear  to  you 
nee  of  their 
false;  espe- 
int,  and  sin- 
quite  a  dif- 
iving  some- 
;ants  of  this 
ses,  I  never 
le  together, 

ou  to  make 
8  Protestant 
ber  of  ques- 

note  down 
Ask  him 
lonth  aftcr- 
le  surprised 

and  his  lat- 


Prol.  vol.  i.  p. 
.  p.  27. 


tKf  creed.  Aftf r  all,  wc  need  not  use'  firty  otftcf  Wi'eafis  ^a^ (iff§- 
caver  the  state  of  doubt  and  uncert-vinty  in  M'hich  miiny  of  your 
gi'catest  efivines  and  most  profound  Senptural  students  have 
passed  their  days,  than  to  look  into  their  publications.  I  shall 
satisfy  myself  Avith  citing  the  pastoral  Charge  of  one  of  them; 
a  living  bishop,  to  his  clergy.  Speaking  of  the  Christian  doc- 
trines, ne  says,  "  I  think  it  safer  to  tell  you  where  tbeij  are  con- 
tained^ than  xvliat  they  are.  They  are  contained  in  the  Bible  ; 
and  if,  in  reading  that  Book,  your  sentiments  concerning  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity  should  be  different  from  those  of  your 
neighbour,  or  from  those  of  the  churchy  be  persuaded,  on  you. 
part,  that  infallibility  appertains  as  little  to  you  as  it  does  to  the 
church."*  Can  you  read  this,  my  dear  sir,  without  shuddering? 
It*  a  most  learned  and  intelligent  bishop  and  professor  of  divi- 
nity, as  Dr.  Watson  certainly  is,  after  studying  all  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  all  the  commtntators  upon  them,  is  forced  publicly 
to  confess  to  his  assembled  clergy,  that  he  cannot  tell  them  what 
the  doctrines  cf  Christionitif  are^  how  unsettled  must  his  mind 
have  been !  and,  of  course,  how  far  removed  from  the  assurance 
of  faith !  In  the  next  place,  how  fallacious  must  that  rule  of 
the  mere  Bible  be,  which,  while  he  recommends  it  to  them,  he 
plainly  signifies,  will  not  lead  them  to  a  uniformity  of  senti- 
ments one  with  another,  net  even  with  their  church ! 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  sir,  but  those  who  entertain  doubts 
concerning  the  truth  of  their  religion,  in  the  course  of  their 
lives,  must  experience  the  same,  with  redoubled  anxiety,  at  the 
approach  of  death.  Accordingly  there  are,  I  believe,  few  of  our 
Catholic  priests,  in  an  extensive  ministry,  who  have  not  been 
frequently  called  in  to  receive  dying  Protestants  into  the  Ca- 
tholic church,!  while  not  a  single  instance  of  a  Catholic  wish- 
ing to  die  in  any  other  communion  than  his  own  can  be  produc- 
ed.]:    O  death,  thou  great  enlightencr!  O  truth-telling  death, 

•  Bishop  Watson's  Charge  to  lils  Cleri^y,  in  1795. 

f  A  larpe  proportion  of  those  grandees  who  were  the  most  fonvurd  in  promot- 
ing' the  Reformation,  so  called,  and,  among  the  rest,  Cromwell,  carl  of  Essex, 
the  kingp's  ecclesiastical  vicar,  when  they  came  to  die,  returned  to  the  Catho- 
lic church.  This  was  the  case  also  with  Luther's  chief  protector,  tht-  elector 
of  Saxony,  the  persecuting  queen  of  Navarre,  and  many  other  foreign  Protes- 
tant princes.  Some  bishops  of  the  established  church;  for  instance,  Good- 
man and  Cheyney,  of  Gloucester,  and  Gordon,  of  Glasgow,  probably  also  Hali- 
fax, of  St.  Asaph's,  died  Catholics.  A  long  list  of  titled  or  otherwise  distin- 
guished personages,  who  hare  either  returned  to  the  Catholic  faith,  or  for  tho 
first  time,  embraced  it  on  their  death-beds,  in  modern  times,  might  be  named 
here,  if  it  were  prudent  to  do  so. 

♦  This  is  remarked  bv  sir  Toby  Matthews,  son  of  the  archbishop  of  York, 
Hugh  Cressy,  Canon  o/ Windsor  and  dean  of  Laughlin,  F.  Walsingham,  and 
Ant.  Ulric,  duke  of  Brunswick,  all  illuitrious  converts.    Also  by  Bcurier,  in 
his  Conftreneex,  p.  400. 
o 


52 


Letter  X. 


how  powerful  art  thou  in  confuting  the  blasphemies,  and  dissi- 
pating the  prejudices,  of  the  enemies  of  God's  church! — ^Tak- 
ing it  for  granted,  that  you,  dear  sir,  have  not  been  without  your 
doubts  and  fears  about  the  safety  of  the  road  in  which  you  are 
walking  to  eternity,  more  particularly  in  the  course  of  the  pre- 
sent Qontroversy,  and  being  anxious,  beyond  expression,  that 
'  you  should  be  free  from  these  when  you  arrive  at  the  brink  of 
that  vast  ocean,  I  cannot  do  better  than  address  you  in  the 
words  of  the  great  St.  Augustine,  to  one  in  your  situation:  "If 
you  think  you  have  been  sdfficiently  tossed  about,  and  wish  to 
see  an  end  to  your  anxieties,  follow  the  rule  of  Catholic  disci- 
pline, which  came  down  to  us  through  the  apostles  from  Christ 
himself,  and  which  shall  descend  from  us  to  the  latest  posteri- 
ty."* Yes,  renounce  the  fatal  and  foolish  presumption  of  fan- 
cying that  you  can  interpret  the  Scripture  better  than  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  aided,  as  she  is,  by  the  tradition  of  all  ages,  anc' 
the  spirit  of  all  truth,]  But  I  mean  to  treat  this  latter  subjec 
at  due  length  in  my  next  letter.  .    .  ,      , 


rVTt-.'n*'   •       ■'■^'  .  '    ■  <  'S  ' 

.               1  am,  Uear  bir,  JS 

IC. 

V^t  'sh;-'    J-''^'-     '■    :      ■     ^   ' 

I  * 

J.  M. 

-«^  .'!f  :■'?-•  ^   ■'    ■■  '  ■.'--^-■i 

:"j  r      '   ,  '.       •  .    '        t.  1  '             .  ' '        If-, 

-r^n'i,--     .«■'■;■"      .        : 

.  ■;,    -.;•>.     "     .  ■;   i'■ 

!      ■ 

■1        I'i 

'  ''■  :■.  ,:     ^    ■ 

, ' ! .'   ' '  1 :  .  '    ■- '  •       .  t   ,,■'*.''•,''■-■.'■,    1 

' 

:f.  .   J-  1  .  ■■'■ 

r'rl;;-.  ■'>'-'■'  ^      '     '  ''■' 

"''       -—•♦»— 

(  ^< 

'       1      ^  y 

-,/-f(i    J. .  •  .'!••.          wi    r," 

'   ■       *        ' , 

1  ,.!     , 

,  ^;     \  >  ,-- 

iHf  -     .'■■  ■'.::■. ^.  -  ^:J.  -' 

.  .  •  .ji,  ^'     '•';     ■   >  .  •    ■     '  '   • 

' ■)   ' 

i.,i'     .    • 

=  >..,.    ,.,      .    •..         ■   r.'^>    > 

.     ■      i        '  ■   ■  ■       '        '  ■ 

.'  .V-  -r  ■ 

{)■  =  ■)•?     ■;     ■     •■       .            '.  V 

LETTER  X.      ; 

.  >'\  •,.:•  •  -1  ■  ■  .■ 

( 

-      '.      '                  -:       ^\ 

rh-1  :'    ^;'<    '   ^.' )  >;  Tf} 

IJIMP.S!  nnnir\T  r^ 

'     .              ,                                             ■' 

THE  TRUE  RULE, 


Dear  Sir, 


^1*  I  HAVE  received  your  letter,  and  also  two  others  irom 

gentlemen  of  your  society,  on  what  I  have  written  to  you  con- 
cerning the  insufficiency  of  Scripture,  interpreted  by  individu- 
als, to  constitute  a  secure  rule  of  faith.  From  these,  it  is  plain 
that  mv  arRuments  have  produced  a  considerable  sensation  in 

•  Du  Util.  Creel,  c.  8. 
f  Bossuet,  in  his  celebrated  Conference  tvUk  Claude,  which  produced  the 
conversion  of  Mile.  DurHS,  obliged  him  to  confess,  that,  by  the  Protestant 
ride,  •♦  every  artisan  and  husbandman  may  and  ought  to  believe  that  he  can 
understand  the  Scriptures  better  than  iiU  the  fathcrtt  and  doctors  of  the  church, 
ancient  and  modern,  put  together. " 


the  soci 
of  the  t 
|)ontlen< 
express 
ation,  w 
of  my  i 
>incii)lt 
other  s( 
versy  n 
answer) 
cerning 
The 
the  wri 
ten  ana 
these  / 
implies 
I  ill  intei 
(loubtfi 
1.  I 
hnvH  n 
indeed 
10  run  i 
you  kn 
umvrit 
huttha 
II  lature, 
hefore- 
ture^  ai 
vine  la 
the.fe  d 
says  jii 
the  un' 
law."* 
and  eh 
lilies  h 
to  be  i. 
answei 
are  tht 
decide 
accord 
j  hindin 
j'')un(l<, 
uiling 


li:''  > 


Letter,  X 


53 


the  societ}-;  insomuch  that  I  find  m)-9elf  obliged  to  remind  them 
of  the  terms  on  which  we  mutually  entered  upon  this  corres- 
])ont)ence,  namely,  that  each  one  should  l)e  at  perfect  liberty  to 
express  his  sentiments  on  the  important  subject  under  consider 
ation,  without  complaint  or  offence  of  the  other.  'I'he  strength 
of  my  arguments  is  admitted  !)y  you  all:  yet  you  all  bring  in- 
>iiicible  ol)jections,  as  you  consider  them,  from  Scripture  and 
other  sources,  against  them.  I  think  it  will  render  our  contro- 
\ersy  more  simple  and  clear,  if,  with  your  pel-mission,  I  defer  ^ 
answering  these,  till  after  I  have  said  all  that  I  have  to  say  con- 
cerning the  Catholic  rule  of  faith. 

The  Catholic  rule  of  Auth,  as  I  stated  before,  is  not  merely ' 
thewritten\Wonl  ofGod^  but  the  whole  Word  of  God,  both  writ"' 
ten  and  unwritten ;  in  other  words.  Scripture  and  tradition^  and 
these  propounded  and  explained  by  the  Catholic  church.  This 
implies  that  we  have  a  truo-Jbld  rule,  or  law,  and  that  we  have 
an  interpreter,  or Jud^'e  to  explain  it,  and  to  decide  upon  it  in  all 
doubtful  points.  ;-  ;   m/t 

1.  I  enter  upon  this  subjfxt  with  observing  that  a\\  written 
hnvK  necessarily  suppose  the  existence  of  unwritten  lawn,  and 
indeed  depend  upon  them  for  their  force  and  authority.  Not 
to  run  into  the  depths  of  ethics  and  metaphysics  on  this  subject, 
you  know,  dear  sir,  that,  in  this  kingdom,  we  have  common  or 
umvrittenlaw,  and  statute  or  written  law,  both  of  them  binding  ; 
but  that  the  former  necessarily  precedes  the  latter.  The  legis- 
lature, for  example,  makes  a  written  statute ;  but  we  must  learn, 
before-hand,  from  the  common  law,  what  constitutes  the  leg-isla- 
turc,  and  we  must  also  have  learnt  from  the  natural  and  the  di- 
\  ine  laws,  that  the  legislature  is  to  be  obeyed  in  all  thing's  which 
thene  do  not  render  unlawful,  "  The  municipal  law  of  England," 
saj  s  judge  Blackstone,  "  may  be  divided  into  Lex  Non  Scriptu, 
the  unwritten  or  common  law,  and  the  Lex  Scriptu,  or  statute 
law."*  He  afterwards  calls  the  common  law, "  the  first  ground 
and  chief  corner-stone  of  the  laws  of  England."!  "  If,"  conti- 
nues he,  "  the  question  arises,  how  these  customs  or  maxims  are 
to  be  known,  and  by  whom  their  validity  is  to  be  determined?  The 
answer  is,  by  the  judges  in  the  several  courts  of  justice.  They 
are  the  depositaries  of  the  laws,  the  living  oracles,  who  must 
decide  in  all  cases  of  doubt,  and  who  are  bound  by  oath  to  decide 
siccording  to  the  law  of  the  land,"^  So  a4)surd  is  the  idea  of 
binding  mankind  by  written  laws,  ivithout  laying  an  adequate 
foundation  for  the  authority  of  those  laws,  and  without  consti« 
uiting //i;///§'yi/r/^'Y'A' to  decide  upon  them!  ■  : 


•  Comment,  on  the  T,:i\vs,  Introduct.  sect.  3, 

tli)''l  n  7\.  atli  ('dit. 


t  ll)ia.  p.  69* 


s% 


Letter  X. 


ra*> 


'N-ither  has  the  divine  wisdom,  in  founding  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  his  church,  acted  in  that  inconsistent  manner.  The 
Ahnighty  did  not  send  a  Book,  the  New  Testament,  to  Chris- 
tians, and,  without  so  much  as  establishing  the  authority  of  that 
Book,  leave  them  to  interpret  it,  till  the  end  of  time,  each  one 
according  to  his  own  opinions  or  prejudices.  But  our  blessed 
Master  and  legislator,  Jesus  Christ,  having  first  demonstrated 
his  own  diA'ine  legation  from  his  heavenly  Father,  by  undenia- 
ble miracles,  commissioned  his  chosen  apostles,  by  word  oj 
mouthy  to  proclaim  and  explain,  by  word  of  mouth^his  doctrines 
and  precepts  to  all  nations,  promising  to  be  with  them,  in  the 
execution  of  this  office  of  his  heralds  and  judges,  even  to  the  end 
oj  the  world.  This  implies  the  power  he  had  given  them,  of 
ordaining  successors  in  this  office,  as  they  themselves  were  only 
to  live  the  ordinary  term  of  human  life.  True  it  is,  that  dur- 
ing the  execution  of  their  commission,  he  inspired  some  of  them 
and  their  disciples  to  write  certain  parts  of  these  doctrines  and 
precepts,  namely,  the  canonical  Gospels  and  Epistles,  which 
they  addressed,  for  the  most  part,  to  particular  persons, 
and  on  particular  occasions ;  but  these  inspired  writings  by  no 
means  rendered  void  Christ's  commission  to  the  apostles  and 
their  successors,  oi  preaching  and  explaing  his  word  to  the  na- 
tions, or  his  promise  of  being  with  them  till  the  end  of  time. 
On  the  contrary,  the  inspiration  of  these  very  writings,  is  not 
otherwise  known,  than  by  the  viva  voce  evidence  of  these  de- 
positaries and  judges  of  the  revealed  truths.  This  analy- 
sis of  revealed  religion,  so  conformable  to  reason  and  the  civil 
constitution  of  our  country,  is  proved  to  be  true,  by  the  written 
Word  itstW — by  the  tradition  and  conduct  of  the  apostles — and 
by  the  constant  testimony  and  practice  of  the  fathers  and  doc- 
tors of  the  church,  in  all  ages. 

II.  Nothing  then,  dear  sir,  is  further  from  the  doctrine  and 
practice  of  the  Catholic  church  than  to  slight  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. So  far  from  this,  she  had  religiously  preserved  and 
perpetuated  them,  from  age  to  age,  during  almost  fifteen  hun- 
dred years,  before  Protestants  existed.  She  has  consulted 
them,  and  confirmed  hei*  decrees  from  them,  in  her  several 
councils.  She  enjoins  her  pastors,  whose  business  it  is  to  in- 
struct the  faithful,  to  read  and  study  them  without  intermis- 
sion, knowing,  that  all  Scripture  is  giveri  by  inspiration  'jf  Gody 
ana  is  profitable  for  doctrine^  for  reproof  for  correction^  for  /;/- 
struction  in  righteousness,  2  Tim.  iii.  16.  Finally,  she  proves 
her  perpetual  right  to  announce  and  explain  the  truths  and  ]Te- 
cepLs  of  her  divine   Founder,  by  several  of  the  strongest  an.l 


Letter  X, 


55 


le  spiritual 
inner.  Tlie 
t,  to  Chris- 
orityofthat 
e,  each  one 
our  blessed 
monstrated 
!)y  undenia- 
»«/  word  oj 
is  doctrines 
lem,  in  the 
n  to  the  end 
n  them,  of 
s  were  only 
i,  that  dur- 
me  of  them 
ctrines  and 
itles,  which 
ir  persons, 
tings  by  no 
postles  and 
/  to  the  na- 
nd  of  time, 
ings,  is  not 
these  de- 
"his  analy- 
id  the  civil 
the  written 
istles — and 
rs  and  doc- 

jctrine  and 
loly  Scrip- 
served  and 
ifteen  hun- 

consulted 
ler  several 

it  is  to  in- 
t  intermis- 
ion  'jJ'Gody 
ion,,  for  in^ 
she  proves 
IS  and  I're- 
)ngest  uni 


■\ 


clearest  ptipsfiges  contamcd  in  Holy  Writ.*  Such,  for  exam- 
ple, is  the  last  commission  of  Christ,  alluded  to  above  :  Go 
t^e  therefore  and  teach  all  nations^  hafitizinq'  them  in  the  name 
cf  the  Father^  and  of  the  Son^  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you, 
Andlo  !  I  am  with  you  all  days^  even  to  the  end  of  the  world- 
Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20.  And  again,  Go  ye  into  all  the  rvorld^  and 
treach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  Mark  xvi.  IJ.  It  is 
preaching  and  teaching  then,  that  is  to  say  the  unwritten  Word^ 
which  Christ  has  appointed  to  he  the  general  method  of  propa- 
gating his  divine  truths  ;  and,  whereas  he  promises  to  he  xvith 
his  apostles  to  the  end  of  the  world:  this  proves  their  authority 
in  expounding,  and  that  the  same  was  to  descend  to  their  legiti' 
mate  successors  in  the  sacred  ministry,  since  they  themselves 
M'ere  only  to  live  the  ordinary  term  of  human  life.  In  like 
manner,  the  following  clear  texts  prove  the  authority  o'  the 
apostles  and  their  successors  yor^yf;-;  that  is  to  say,  of  the  ever- 
living  and  speaking  tribunal  of  the  church,  in  expounding  our 
Saviour's  doctrine :  /  will  pray  the  Fatherland  he  shall  give 
you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for  ever* — 
The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost  whom  the  Father  will 
sendin  my  name ;  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things 
to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you,  John 
xiv.  16,  26.  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  both  the  unwritten  and  the 
written  Word,  puts  them  upon  a  level,  where  he  says,  TherC' 
fore,  brethren,  stand  fast  and  hold  the  tradition  ye  have  been 
taught,  whether  by  word  or  our  Epistle,  2.  Thess.  v.  13,  Fi- 
nally, St.  Peter  pronounces,  that.  No  prophecy  of  Scripture  is 
of  any  private  interpretation,    2  Pet.  i.  20. 

III.  I'hat  the  apostles,  and  the  apostolical  men,  whom  they 
formed,  followed  this  method  prescribed  by  their  Master,  is 
unquestionable ;  and  we  have  positive  proofs  froriS  *:^cripture, 
as  well  as  from  tcclcsiastical  history,  that  they  did  so.  St. 
Mark,  after  recording  the  above  cited  admonition  of  preaching 
the  Go.spel,  which  Christ  kft  to  his  apostles,  adds.  And  they 
went  forth  and  preached  every  where;  the  Lord  working  xvith 
them,  and  coiifirniing  the  xvord  with  signs  following,  Mark 
xvi.  20.  St.  Peter  ];reathcd  thnnighou't  Judea,  and  Syria,  and 
last  of  all  in  Italy  and  at  Rome  ;  St.  Paul,  throughout  Lesser 
Asia,  Greece,  and  as  far  as  Spain ;  St.  Andrew  pene- 
trated into  Scylhia  ;  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Bartholomew  into  Par- 
thia  and  India,  and  so  of  the  others  ;  every  where  converting 
and  instructing  thousands,  by  xvord  of  mouth ;  founding  churches, 

•  St.  Austin  uses  this  argximent  agtiinst  the  Donatists,  "  In  Scripturis  dis- 
cimug  Christum  in  Scripturis  discimus,  Ecclcsiam  8i  Christum  tcneutis,  quai*e 
Eicleslam  non  tenctis." 

s* 


56 


Letter  X, 


antt  ordaining  bishops  and  priests  to  do  the  same.*  If  any 
of  them  wrote,  it  was  on  some  particular  occasion,  and,  fo- 
the  most  part,  to  a  particular  person  or  congregation,  without 
either  giving  directions,  or  providing  means  of  communicating 
their  Epistles  or  ^heir  Gospels  to  the  rest  of  the  Christians 
throughout  the  world.  Hence,  it  happened,  as  I  have  before 
remarked,  that  it  was  not  till  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  that 
the  canon  of  Holy  Scriptures  was  absolutely  settled  as  it  now 
stands.  True  it  is,  that  the  apostles,  before  they  separated  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  different  nations,  agreed  upon  a  short  sym- 
bol or  profession  of  faith,  called  The  Apostles'  Creed  \  but  even 
this  they  did  not  commit  to  writing  :f  and  whereas  they  made 
this,  among  other  articles  of  it,  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Church ^\ 
theif  made  no  mention  at  all  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  This  cir- 
cumstance confirms  what  their  example  proves,  that  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  and  discipline  might  have  been  propagated  and 
preserved  by  the  unwritten  Word^  or  tradition,  joined  with  th« 
authority  oi  the  church,  though  the  Scriptures  had  not  been 
composed ;  however  profitable  these  most  certainly  arc  Jo r  doc- 
trine,  for  reproof  for  correction,  and  for  instruction  in  right- 
eousness, 2  Tim.  lii.  16.  I  have  already  quoted  one  of  the 
ornaments  of  your  church,  who  says,  that  "the  canonical  Epis- 
tles" (and he  might  have  added  the  Gospels)  "are  not  regular 
treatises  upon  the  Christian  religion  ;"§  and  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  show,  from  an  ancient  father,  that  this  religion  did  pre- 
vail and  flourish  soon  after  the  age  of  the  apostles,  among  niv- 
lions  which  did  not  even  know  the  use  of  letters. 

IV.  However  light  Protestants  of  this  age  may  make  of  the 
a icient  fathers,  as  theological  authorities^\\  they  cannot  ohjtct 
to  them  as  faithful  witnesses  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
the  church  in  their  respective  times.  It  is  chiefly  in  the  lattir 
character  that  I  am  going  to  bring  a  certain  number  of  them 


»ii 


•  'I'hfy  nrdamen  ihem  prtrsfs  m  fvery  envrrn.  Acts  xiv.  22.  Vnr  thh  rmtse  I 
if  ft  thfi'  in  I  'nie,  thai  thou  xlumUst  -ut  in  order  the  things  that  arc  wuntiu^,  and 
hhotiUUt  orduln  prients  in  every  clti/,  m  I  had  appointed  thee.  Tit.  i.  5.  The 
thin4^.i  that  tiiou  hast  heard  of  me  anionff  many  wilnr.ii,Hfi,  the  same  commit  thou 
to  thrme  fdithfid  men,  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also,  3.  Tim.  ii.  2. 

f  lliiftin  intor  Opera  Hicron. 

4  The  title  Catholic  was  afterwards  added,  when  heresies  increased. 

^  P.Itinents  of  Theoloj^y,  vol.  ii. 

I  Jewel,  Andrews,  Hooker,  W.)rton,  Pearson,  and  other  I'rotcst.int  divines 
of  tliC  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  lal)oured  hard  to  j)ress  the  futliers 
into  their  service  ;  but  with  such  bad  success,  that  the  succcedinff  controver- 
sialists jfave  them  up  in  despair.  The  learned  Frotcstunt,  Cansabon,  con- 
fcs-ed  that  tlie  fathers  were  all  on  the  Catliolic  side  ;  the  ecpially  learned 
OI)recht  testifies  that,  in  readin(f  their  works,  •'  he  was  frecjuently  provoked 
to  throw  them  on  the  (ground,  fniding  them  so  full  of  I'opery  /'  while*  Middle- 
ion  bciips  every  kind  uf  obloquy  upon  them. 


Letter  X,\ 


J7 


If  any 

,  and,  fo- 

,  without 

unicating 

Christians 

ve  before 

itur^,  that 

as  It  now 

larated  to 

hort  sym- 

;  but  even 

ley  made 

Chvrcli.X 

This  cir- 

the  Chris- 

a;ated  and 

1  with  th« 

not  been 

T^fordov- 

in  right- 

»ne  of  the 

lical  £pis- 

Dt  regular 

lave  occa- 

n  did  pre- 

mong  niu 

alee  of  the 

lot  ohjtct 

cipline  of 

the  hittc  r 

of  them 


Mm  rrmsf  1 
unititi!^,  and 

i.  5.  'no. 
commit  tliuu 

i    1 
l9Cd. 

tant  (UvincH 
Ihf  fatlicTH 

f  COlUlOVtT- 

:ibon,  coii- 
illy  kitriicd 
I  provoked 
lilc  Middlc' 


forward,  namely,  to  prove  that  during  the  five  first  ages  of  the 
church,  no  less  than  in  the  subsequent  ages,  the  unwritten  Word, 
or  tradition,  was  held  in  equal  estimation  by  her  with  the  Scrip- 
ture itself,  and  that  she  claimed  a  divine  right  of  propounding 
and  explaining  them  both. 

I  begin  with  the  disciple  of  the  apostles,  St.  Ignatius,  bishop 
of  Antioch :  it  is  recorded  of  him  that,  in  his  passage  to  Rome, 
where  he  was  sentenced  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts,  he  ex- 
horted the  Christians,  who  got  access  to  him,  "to  guard  them- 
selves against  the  rising  heresies,  and  to  adhere  with  the  ut- 
most firmness  to  the  tradition  of  the  apostles,^''*  The  same 
sentiments  appear  in  this  saint^s  Epistles,  and  also  in  those  of  his 
fellow  martyr,  St.  Polycarp,  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Smyrna,] 

One  of  the  disciples  of  the  last  mentioned  holy  bishop  was 
St.  Irenseus,  who  passing  into  Gaul,  became  bishop  of  Lyons, 
He  has  left  twelve  books  against  the  heresies  of  his  time,  which  a- 
bound  with  testimonies  to  the  present  purpose ;  some  few  of  which 
I  shall  here  insert. — He  writes, "  Nothing  is  easier  to  those  who 
seek  for  the  truth,  than  to  remark,  in  every  church,  the  tradi- 
tion^ which  the  apostles  have  manifested  to  all  the  world.  We 
can  name  the  bishops  appointed  by  the  apostles  in  the 
several  churches,  and  the  successors  of  those  bishops  down 
to  our  own  time,  none  of  whom  ever  taught  or  heard  of 
such  doctrines  as  these  heretics  dream  of":^  This  holy 
father  emphatically  affirms  that,  **  In  explaining  the  Scriptures, 
Christians  are  to  attend  to  the  pastors  of  the  churchy  who,  by 
the  ordinance  of  God,  have  received  the  inheritance  of  truth, 
with  the  succession  of  their  Sees."§  He  adds,  "  The  tongues 
of  nations  vary,  but  the  virtue  of  tradition  is  one  and  the  same 
every  where  ;  nor  do  the  churches  in  Gern^nny  believe  or  teach 
differently  from  those  in  Spain,  Gaul,  the  East,  Egypt,  or  Ly- 
bia."|| — "  Since  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  succes- 
sion of  all  the  churches,  we  appeal  to  the  faith  and  tradition  of 
the  greatest,  most  ancient,  and  best  known  church,  that  of  Rome, 
founded  by  the  apostles,  SS,  Peter  and  Paul;  for  with  this 
church  all  others  agree,  in  as  much  as  in  her  is  preserved  the 
tradition  which  comes  down  from  the  apostles."^ — ^*  SUPPOS- 
IN(;  THE  APOSTLES  HAH  NOT  LEFT  US  THE 
SCRIPTURES,  OUGH  r  NOT  WE  STILL  TO  HAVE 
FOLLOWED  THE  ORDINANCE  OF  TRADITION, 
which  they  consigned  to  those  to  whom  they  committed  the 
churches  ?  It  is  this  ordinance  of  tradition  wh'ch  many  nations 
of  barbarians,  believing  in  Christ,  follow,  without  the  uie  ot 
letters  or  ink."** 

•  F.uspb.  Hist.  1.  Hi.  c.  "0.       f  Revel,  ii.  8.      ^  Advcrs.  Ilxren.  I.  iii.  c.  5. 
^L.  iv.c.43.  IIL.i.c.J.  IL.iii.c.3  ••L.iv.c.64 

H 


58 


Letter  X. 


0 


Tertullian,  who  flourished  two  hundred  years  after  the  Chris- 
tian era,  among  his  other  works,  has  left  us  one  of  the  same 
nature,  and  almost  the  same  title  with  that  last  cited.  In  this, 
speaking  of  the  contemporary  heretics,  he  says,  "They  meddle 
with  the  Scriptures,  and  adduce  arguments  from  them :  for, 
in  treating  of  faith,  they  pretend  that  they  ought  not  to  argue 
upon  any  other  ground  than  the  written  documents  of  faith: 
thus  they  weary  the  firm,  catch  the  weak,  and  fill  the  middle 
sort  with  doubt.  We  begin,  therefore,  with  laying  down  as  a 
maxim,  that  these  men  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  argue  at  all 
from  scripture.  In  fact,  these  disputes  about  the  sense  of  Scrip- 
ture have  generally  no  other  effect  than  to  disorder  either  the 
stomach  or  the  brain.  It  is,  therefore,  the  wrong  method  to 
appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  since  these  afford  either  no  decision, 
or,  at  most,  only  a  doubtful  one.  And  even  if  this  were  not 
the  case,  still,  m  appealing  to  Scripture,  the  natural  order  of 
thinpfs  requires  that  we  should  first  inquire  to  whom  the  Scripi- 
tutes  belong?  From  whom,  and  by  whom,  and  on  what  occa- 
sion, and  to  whom,  that  tradition  was  delivered  by  which  we 
l)eciime  Christians  ?  F-or  where  the  truth  of  Christian  discipline 
and  faith  is  found,  there  is  the  truth  of  Scripture,  and  of  the 
interpretation  of  it,  and  of  all  Christian  traditions."*  He  else- 
where says,  "  that  doctrine  is  evidently  true  which  was  first  de- 
livered :  on  the  contrary,  that  is  false  which  is  of  a  later  date- 
This  maxim  stands  immoveable  against  the  attempts  of  all  late 
heresies.  Let  such  then  produce  the  origin  of  theii  churches : 
let  them  show  the  succession  of  their  bishops  from  the  apostles, 
nr  their  disciples. — If  you  live  near  Italy,  you  see  before  your 
«  ye«  the  Roman  church:  happy  church '  to  which  the  apostles 
have  left  the  inheritance  of  their  doctrine  with  their  blood ! 
Where  Peter  was  crucified,  like  his  Master;  where  Paul  was 
beheaded,  like  the  Baptist! — If  this  be  so,  it  is  plain,  as  we 
\vA\e  baid,  that  heretics  are  not  to  be  allowed  to  appeal  to  Scrip- 
ture, since  thty  ha\  no  claim  to  it.— Hence  it  is  proper  to  ad- 
dross  them  as  follows: — Who  ore  you?  Whence  do  you  come? 
What  husinens  have  you  strangers  with  my  property  ?  By  what 
right  are  yoUy  Marcion^  filling  my  trees  P  By  what  authority 
are  ifou^  Valentine^  turning  the  course  of  my  streams?  Under 
IV hut  pretence  are  you^  Apelles^  removing  my  land-marks?  The 
etitutc  is  viint:  I  have  the  ancient^  the  prior  possession  of  it.  I 
have  the  title  deeds  delivered  to  me  by  the  original  proprietors, 
I  am  the  heir  of  the  apostles;  they  have  made  their  will  in  my 
fjvoiir;  ivhile  they  disinherited  and  cast  you  off^  as  strangers 
and  enemies.*''^     In  another  of  his  works,]:  this  eloquent  father 

♦  p^-acscrip.  Atlvcrs.  Ilxrcs.  edit.  Rhenan,  pp,  36,  37.  '«**  » ♦• 

t    biU-  t  licX'oruim  Milit, 


1 


Letter  X, 


5% 


he  Chris. 

the  same 

In  this, 

y  meddle 

lem:  for, 

to  argue 

of  faith: 

le  middle 

lown  as  a 

gue  at  all 

of  Scrip- 

iithfcr  the 

nethod  to 

decision, 

were  not 

order  ol 

the  Scripr 

hat  occa- 

which  we 

discipline 

nd  of  the 

He  else- 

is  first  de- 

later  date- 

of  all  late 

churches : 

e  apostles, 

;fore  vour 

e  apostles 

:ir  blood ! 

Paul  was 

lin,  as  we 

il  to  Scrip- 

►per  to  ad- 

yoM  come? 

'  By  what 

authority 

'  ?    Under 

rks?    The 

on  of  it,  I 

roprietors, 

will  in  my 

strangers 

lent  father 


,^v.. 


proves,  at  great  length,  the  absolute  necessity  of  admitting  tra» 
dition,  no  less  tlian  Scripture  as  the  rule  of  faith,  inasmuch  as 
many  important  points  which  he  mentions,  cannot  be  proved 
without  It.  ...  .  .t  1  » 

I  pass  by  other  shining  lights  of  the  third  century,  such  as 
St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  St.  Cyprian,  Origen,  &c,  all  of 
whom  place  apostolical  tradition  on  a  level  with  Scripture,  and 
describe  the  church  as  the  expounder  of  them  both:  I  must, 
however,  give  the  following  words,  from  the  last  named  great 
Biblical  scholar.  He  says,  "  We  are  not  to  credit  those,  who, 
by  citing  real  canonical  Scripture,  seem  to  say,  behold  the  Word 
is  in  your  houses:  for  we  arc  not  to  desert  our  first  ecclesiastic 
cal  tradition,  nor  to  believe  otherwise  than  as  the  churches  of 
God  have,  in  their  perpetual  succession,  delivered  to  us." 

Among  the  numerous  and  illustrious  witnesses  of  the  fourth 
age,  I  shall  be  content  with  citing  St.  Basil  and  St  Epiphanius, 
The  former  says, "  There  are  many  doctrines  preserved  and 
preached  in  the  church,  derived  partly  from  written  documents, 
partly  from  apostolical  tradition,  which  have  equally  the  same 
force  in  religion,  and  which  no  one  contradicts  who  has  the  least 
knowledge  of  the  Christian  laws."*  The  latter  of  these  fathers, 
says,  with  equal  brevity  and  force,  *-^  We  must  make  use  of  tradi> 
tion:  for  all  things  are  not  to  be  found  in  Scripture."! 

St.  John  Chrysostom  flourished  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
centuiy,  who,  though  he  strongly  recommends  the  reading  of 
the  holy  Scriptures,  yet,  expounding  the  text,  2  Thess,  ii.  14. 
says,  *^  Hence  it  is  plain  that  the  apostles  did  not  deliver  to 
us  every  thing  by  their  Epistles,  but  many  things  without 
writing.  These  are  equally  worthy  of  belief.  Hence,  let  us 
regard  the  tradition  of  the  church,  as  the  subject  of  our  belieC 
Such  and  such  a  thing  is  a  tradition:  seek  no  farther, ^^ — It 
would  fill  a  large  volume  to  transcribe  all  the  passages  which, 
occur  in  the  works  of  the  great  St.  Austin,  in  proof  of  the 
Catholic  rule,  and  the  authority  of  the  church  in  making  use 
of  it:  let  therefore  two  or  three  of  them  speak  for  the  rest. — 
"  To  attain  to  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures^''  he  says,  "  we  must . 
follow  the  sense  of  them  entertained  by  the  universal  church,  to 
which  the  Scriptures  themselves  bear  testimony.  True  it  is  the 
Scriptures  themselves  cannot  deceive  us;  nevertheless,  to  pre- 
vent our  being  deceived  in  the  question  we  examine  by  them,  it 
is  necessary  we  should  advise  with  that  church,  which  these  cer- 
tainly and  evidently  point  out  to  us.":^ — "This  ("the  unlawful- 
ness of  rebaptizing  heretics)  is  not  evidently  reau  either  by  you 


•In  Lib.  (1p  Spir.  Sane. 
♦  L.  i.  contra  Crcscon. 


t  Dc  Hares.  N.  61, 


eo 


Letter  X. 


is 


orljy  lile';  heVettheless,  if  therfe  were  any  Wise  ifhaii,  to  whom 
Christ  had  borne  testimony,  and  whom  he  had  appointed  to  be 
consulted  on  the  question,  we  could  not  fail  to  do  so  t  now 
Christ  bears  testimony  to  his  church.  Whoever,  therefore,  re- 
fuses to  follow  the  practice  of  the  church  resists  Christ  him- 
self, who  by  his  testimony  recommends  this  church."*  Treat . 
ing  elsewhere,  on  the  st  -  e  subject,  he  says,  "The  apostles, 
indeed,  have  prescribed  nothing  about  this;  but  the  custom 
must  be  consiaered  as  tleri^  jd  from  their  tradition,  since  there 
are  many  things,  obser\»;d  by  the  universal  church,  which  are 
justly  held  to  have  been  appointed  by  the  apostles,  though  they 
are  not  written,"f — It  seems  doing  an  injury  to  St  Vincent  of 
I-erins,  who  lived  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  to  quote  a 
part  of  his  Celebrated  CowmonrVoWwrn,  when  the  whole  of  it  is  so 
admirably  calculated  to  refute  the  false  rule  of  heretics,  condemn- 
ed in  the  foregoing  testimonies,  and  to  prove  the  Catholic  rule, 
here  laid  down :  still  T  can  only  transcribe  a  very  small  portion 
of  it.  "It  is  asked,"  says  this  father,  "as  the  Scripture  is  per- 
fect, what  need  is  there  of  the  authority  of  church  doctrine? 
ITie  reason  is  because  the  Scripture,  being  so  profoundly  deep, 
is  not  understood  by  all  persons  in  the  same  sense,  but  differ- 
icnt  persons  explain  it  different  ways,  so  that  there  are  almost 
as  many  meanings  as  there  are  readers  of  it.  Novation  inter- 
prets it  in  one  sense,  Photinas  in  another,  Arius,  &c.  in  an- 
other. Therefore  it  is  requisite  that  the  true  road  of  expound- 
ing the  prophets  and  apostles  must  be  marked  out,  according 
to  ti'  ;  ecclesiastical  Catholic  line. 

"It  never  was,  is,  or  will  be  lawful  for  Catholic  Christians 
to  teach  any  doctrine,  except  that  which  they  once  received  ; 
and  it  ever  was,  is,  and  will  be  their  duty  to  condemn  those  who 
do  so.— -Do  the  heretics  then  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  ?  Cer- 
tainly they  do,  and  this  with  the  utmost  confidence.  Vou  will 
see  them  running  hastily  through  the  different  books  of  Holy 
Writ,  those  of  Moses,  Kings,  the  Psalms,  the  Gospels,  &c. 
At  home  andabroad,  in  their  discourses  and  in  their  writings, 
they  liardly  produce  a  sentence  which  is  not  larded  with  the 
words  of  Scripture,  &c.  ;  but  they  are  so  much  the  more  to  be 
dreaded,  as  they  conceal  themselves  under  the  veil  of  the  divine 
laws.  Let  us,  however,  remember,  that  Satan  transformed 
himself  into  an  angel  of  light. — If  he  could  turn  the  Scri|)tiirt's 
against  the  Lord  of  Majesty,  what  use  may  he  not  make  of 
them  against  us  poor  mortals  ! — If  then  Satan  and  his  disciplrs, 
the  heretics,  are  capable  of  thus  pcrvert'mg  holy  Scripture,  how 
we  Catholics  the  children  of  the  church,  to  make  use  of  them, 


*  De  UtU.  CrcdeuJ. 


t  l)e  Bapt.  contra  Doimt.  I.  T. 


Letter  XI. 


6i 


p 


•jO  a»  to  discern  truth  from  falsehood  ?  The^  must  carefully 
observe  the  rule  laid  down  at  the  beginning  of  this  treatise  by 
the  holy  and  learned  men  I  referred  to:  THEY  ARE  TO  I^l- 
TKKPRKT  THE  DIVINE  TEXT,  ACCORDING  TO 
THE  TKADITION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH."* 
It  would  be  as  easy  to  prove  this  rule  erf'  faith  from  the  fa- 
thers of  the  sixth  as  the  former  centuries,  particularly  irom  St, 
Gregory  the  great,  that  holy  Pope,  who  at  the  close  of  this  cen- 
tury, sent  missionaries  from  Rome  to  convert  our  Pagan  ances- 
tors :  but,  I  am  sure,  you  will  think  that  evidence  enough  has 
l)ccn  brought  to  show  that  the  ancient  fathers  of  the  church, 
iVom  the  very  time  of  the  apostles,  held  this  whole  rule  offaith^ 
iiamel)',  the  word  of  God  unwritten  as  xvell  as  written^  together 
MJth  the  living-^  sfjeahing'  tribunal  of  the  church  to  preserve  and 
interpret  both  of  them. 

'  ;.  "•■,•  H'    ,'•'  I  am,  Stc. 


■ii 


-(    . ,  *_ 


!;    n.    ,r,    ,x 


I  ;;  »;  :u  *\ 


I  ■ 


('  ■;  -.'i' 


LETTER  XI. 

TO  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq.  ^ 
THE  TRUE  RULE. 


;  i        .  .  .;i   ,tr'.'i ) 


1 .  \ 


Dear  Sir,  ^ 


^  <  ■  ■,  •  \>\ .  < 
•  •  ••  \\  '\  vv  ; 


THE  all-importance  of  determining  with  ourselves  which  is 
the  right  rule  or  method  of  discovering  religious  truth  must  be 
admitted  by  all  thinking  Christians  ;  as  it  is  evident  that  this 
rule  alone  can  conduct  them  to  it,  and  that  a  false  rule  is  capa- 
ble of  conducting  them  into  all  sorts  of  errors.  It  is  equally 
Clear  why  all  those  who  are  bent  upon  deserting  the  Catholic 
church,  reject  her  rule,  that  of  the  w/to.V  word  of  God;  toge- 
ther with  her  living'  authority  in  explaining  it :  for,  vhile  this 
rule  and  tL's  authority  are  acknowledged,  there  can  be  no  he- 
resy or  schism  among  Christians,  as  whatever  points  of  reli- 
gion are  not  clear  from  Scripture  are  supplied  and  illustrated 
by  tradition  ;  and  as  the  pastors  of  the  church,  who  possess  that 

•  Vincent  I.crinH  Coinmonit.  Adveis,  Ilacr.  edit.  Biiluz.  An  English 
U'ltiiMlatiun  uf  this  little  ^urk  has  lately  been  publiuhcU 


est 


better  AJ, 


authority,  are  always  \i\  ing  and  ready  to  declare  what  is  the 
sense  of  Scripture,  and  what  the  tradition  on  each  contested 

Soint  which  they  have  received  in  succession  from  the  apes- 
6s.  The  only  resource,  theT-efore,  of  persons  resolved  to  f-^l- 
low  their  own  cr  their  forefathers'  particular  opinior.s  or  prac- 
tices, in  matters  of  relig'on,  with  the  exception  of  tht^  nTthu^u- 
ast,  has  been  in  all  times,  both  ancient  and  modern,  u,  appetd 
to  mere  Scripture,  which  beinp;  a  dead  letter^  leaves  tlvt* :n  p' 
libertj'  to  explain  it  as  they  will. 

I.  And  yet,  with  all  their  repugnance  to  tradition  :,r)d  church 
authority,  Protestants  have  found  themselves  absolutely  obliged, 
in  many  instances,  to  admit  of  them  bcUi. — It  has  be';n  demon- 
strated above,  that  they  are  obliged  to  admit  of  trsfdition,  in  or- 
der to  admit  of  Scripture  itself.  Withi>ut  this,  they  can  neither 
kn<nr  that  there  are  any  writings  at  all  dictated  hy  God  s  ii  .,?■ 
ration  ;  nor  ^vhich  these  writings  are  iv*  particular  j*  y.or  what 
versions,  or  r  ablication  of  them  are  genuuie.  But,  as  this  mat- 
ter has  been  s'.:fBt;outly  elucidated,  I  proceed  to  other  points 
of  religion,  wl?.--''  Protestants  receive,  either  without  the  au- 
thority of  ScrJpiui.".^,  or  iii  opposition  to  the  letter  of  it. 

The  f^rst  precept  in  the  Bible,  is  that  of  sanctifying  the  seventh 
day:  God  blessrd  the  SEVENTH  DAY,  «/2.^'  sanctified  il. 
Gen.  ii.  3.  This  precept  was  confirmed  by  God,  in  the  Ten 
Commandments :  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 
TAf  SEVENTH  DAY  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 
Exod.  XX.  On  the  other  hand,  Christ  declares  that  he  is  not 
tvme  to  destroy  the  law  but  to  fulfil  if.  Mat.  v.  17.  He  him- 
s'iilf  observed  the  Sabbath :  and^  as  his  custom  xvas^  he  ivent 
u:to  the  synag'og'ue  on  the  Sabbath  day  :  huke  IV.  16.  His  dis- 
ciples likewise  observed  it,  after  his  death :  They  rested  on  the 
Sabbath  day  according  to  the  commandment.  Luke  xxiii.  56. 
Yet,  with  all  this  weight  of  Scripture  authorit}'  for  keeping  the 
Sabbath  or  seventh  day  holy,  Protestants,  of  all  denominations, 
make  this  a  profane  day^  and  transfer  the  obligation  of  it  to  the 
first  day  of  the  we-^/f,  or  the  Sunday.  Now  what  authority 
nave  they  for  doing tjiis  ?  None  at  all,  but  the  unwritten  Word^ 
or  tradition  of  the  Catholic  church,  which  declares  th  it  the 
apostles  made  the  change  in  honour  of  Christ's  resurrection, 
and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  that  day  of  the  week. 
Then,  with  respect  to  the  manner  of  keeping  that  day  holy, 
their  universal  doctrine  and  practice  are  no  le^s  at  variance 

*  Vmonpfst  all  the  learned  Protestants  of  this  uffc,  Dr.  Portciia  is  tiie  only 
oi«<!  who  pretends  tvT  (Ii  .corn  Scripture,  "pnrtly  'ii  n.ccniinl  ot  its  own  rcason- 
RhifKcss,  and  the  clKiraclcrs  ot'divine  wisdom  in  it."     Hricf  Cont'iit.  p.  9.     I 
nnild  \vwt  wished  to  ask  his  lonlsliip,  whetlierit  is  hv  these  rl>'.. meters  tlm 
lie  b'ls  ti.. covered  tlie  Canticle  or  'Song  nf  ,Sohmon  to  ht  inspired  Scripture  f 


^  your  h 
I  to  waul 
those  w 
hgion, 
ere  mo 
ther  fi 
Imt  the 
that  it ' 
contrar 
II.  ] 
not  onl 
porfant 


what  is  the 
ch  contested 
)m  the  apos- 
olved  to  fnU 

ior«s  or  prac- 
tht^  cnthu!5i- 
U:  appeal 
them  ^'i 


es 


1  unci  church 
itely  obliged, 
been  demon- 
lition,  in  ov- 
y  can  neither  ^ 
God  s  11  .  i-  I 
i*  nor  what 
,  as  this  mat- 
other  points 
lout  the  au- 
f  it. 

J  the  seventh 
anctified  it. 
in  the  Ten 
keep  it  holy, 
ord  thy  God. 
at  he  is  not 
\  He  him- 
z*,  he  went 
6.  His  dis- 
'ested  on  the 
e  xxiii.  56. 
keeping  the 
lominations, 
1  of  it  to  the 
It  authoritv 
ritten  Word^ 
res  thit  the 
esurrection, 
f  the  week, 
t  day  hoh, 
s«t  variance 

lis  is  the  only 
Ls  j)\vn  rciison- 
iifiit.  p.  9.     I 
:!>•'.. icttTs  tlia 
id  Scripture  .' 


Letter  XL 


with  the  Sacred  Text.  The  Almighty  says,  **  From  even  unto 
even  shall  you  celebrate  your  Sabbath,"  Levit.  xxiii.  32,  which 
19  the  practice  of  the  Jews  down  to  the  present  time  ;  but  not 
of  any  Protestants  that  ever  I  heard  of.  Again,  it  is  declared 
ii*  Scripture  to  be  unlawful  to  dress  victuals  on  that  day,  Exod. 
x\  i.  23,  or  even  to  make  a  fire,  Exod,  xxxv.  3,  Again,  where 
is  L'\{^re  IX  precept  in  the  whole  Scripture  more  express  than  that 
Bg.mst  eating  blood  ?  God  said  to  Noah,  Every  moving' thing- 
that  liveth  shall  be  meat  to  you — hut  flesh  with  the  life  thereof^ 
which  is  the  blood  thereof  shall  you  not  eat.  Gen.  ix.  4.  This 
prohibition  we  know  was  confirmed  by  Moses,  Levit,  xvii.  11 
Dt  It.  xii.  23,  and  by  the  apostles,  and  was  imposed  upon  the 
(ientiles,  who  were  converted  to  the  faith,  Acts,  xv.  20.  Never- 
theless, where  is  the  religious  Protestant  who  scruples  to  eat 
,iia\y  with  his  meat,  or  puddings  made  of  blood  ?  At  the  same 
lime  if  he  be  asked.  Upon  what  authority  ilo  you  act  in  contra- 
diction to  the  express  words  of  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Tes- 
tament ?  he  can  find  no  other  answer  than  that  he  has  learned 
from  the  tradition  oj  the  church,  that  the  prohibition  was  only 
temporary. — I  will  confine  myself  to  one  more  instance  of  Pro- 
testants abandoning  their  own  rule,  that  of  Scripture  alone,  to 
follow  ours,  of  Scripture  explained  by  tradition.  If  any  intelli- 
t,a'n:  Pflgan,whohad  carefully  perused  the  New  Testament,  were 
asKed,  wnich  of  the  ordinances  mentioned  in  it,  is  most  explicitly 
and  strictly  enjoined  ?  I  make  no  doubt  but  he  would  answer 
that  it  IS,  T'le  washing  of  feet.  To  convince  yourself  of  this, 
he  pieasec!  to  read  the  first  seventeen  verses  of  St.  John,  c.  xiii. 
OI)serve  the  motive  assigned  for  Christ's  performing  the  cere- 
mony, there  recorded  ;  namely,  his  "  love  for  his  disciples  :'* 
next  the  time  of  his  performing  it;  namely,  when  he  was  about 
to  depart  out  of  this  wor'd  :  then  the  stress  he  lays  upon  it,  in 
what  he  said  to  Peter,  If  I  wash  thee  not  thou  hast  no  part, 
«.::t'i  mc:  finally,  his  injunction,  at  the  conclusion  of  it,  Jf  I 
i/'jiir  Lord  and  Master,  have  ivashed  your  feet,  ye  also  ought 
10  wash  one  another''s  feet,  I  now  ask,  on  what  pretence  can 
those  who  profess  to  make  Scripture  alone  the  rule  of  their  re- 
hgion,  totally  disregard  this  institution  and  precept  ?  Had  this 
eremony  been  observed  in  the  church  when  Luther  and  the 
ther  first  Protestants  began  to  dogmatize,  there  is  no  doubt 
hut  they  would  have  retained  it :  but,  having  learnt  from  her 
that  it  was  only  figurative,  they  acquiesced  in  this  decision, 
contrary  to  what  appears  to  be  the  plain  sense  of  Scripture. 

H.  But  1  asserted  that  Protestants  find  themselves  obliged 
not  only  t,)  adopt  the  rule  of  our  church,  on  r^any  the  most  im- 
portant «»ubierts.  but  also  to  claim  ht-r  authoritu.     It  is  true  as 


64 


Letter  XL 


m  I 


a  late  dignitary  of  the  establishment  observes,*  that,  "When 
Protestants  first  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  the  principles  they  went  upon  were  such  as  these : 
Christ,  by  his  gospel,  hath  called  all  men  to  the  liberty^  the  glo- 
rious liberty,  of  the  sons  of  God,  and  restored  them  to  the  pri- 
vilege of  working  out  their  own  salvation  by  their  own  under- 
standing and  endeavours.  For  this  work,  sufficient  means  are 
afforded  in  the  Scriptures,  without  having  recourse  to  the  doc- 
trines and  commandments  of  men.  Consequently,  faith  and 
conscience,  having  no  dependence  on  man's  laws,  are  not  to  be 
ccynpelled  by  man's  authority,"— What  now  was  the  conse- 
quence of  this  fundamental  rule  of  Protestantism  ?  Why,  that 
endless  variety  of  doctrines,  errors,  and  impieties,  mention- 
ed above,  followed  by  those  tumults,  wars,  rebellions,  and  an- 
archy, with  which  the  history  of  every  country  is  filled,  which 
embraced  the  new  religion.  It  is  readily  supposed  that  the 
princes,  and  other  rulers  of  those  countries,  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  civil,  however  hostile  they  might  be  to  the  ancient 
church,  would  wish  to  restrain  these  disorders,  and  make  their 
subjects  adopt  the  same  sentiments  with  themselves.  Hence, 
in  every  Protestant  state,  articles  of  religion,  and  confessions 
of  faith,  differing  from  one  another,  j'et  each  one  agreeing  with 
the  opinion,  for  the  time  being,  of  those  princes  and  rulers, 
were  enacted  by  law,  and  enforced  by  excommunication,  de 
privation,  exile,  imprisonment,  torture,  and  death.  These  latter 
punishments  indeed,  however  frequently  they  were  exercised 
l)y  Protestants  against  Protestants,  as  well  as  against  Catholics, 
during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries^  have  not  been 
resorted  to  during  tlie  last  hundred  years ;  but  the  terrible  sen- 
tence of  excommunication,  which  includes  outlawry,  jven  now 
hangs  over  the  head  of  every  Protestant  bishop,  as  well  as  other 
clergyman,  in  this  country,^  who  interpret  those  passages  of 
the  Gospel,  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  sense  which  it  ap- 
pears from  their  writings  a  number  of  them  entertain ;  and  none 
of  them  can  take  possession  of  a  living,  without  subscribing  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  publicly  declaring  his  unfeigned  as- 
sent and  consent  to  them,  and  to  every  thing  contained  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.^     Thus,  by  adopting  a  false  rule  of 

•  Archdeacon  Blackburn  in  his  celebrated  Confessional,  p.  1. 

t  See  the  letter  on  the  Reformation  and  on  Persecution,  in  Letters  to  a  Pre- 
btnrtitry.  See  also  Ncal's  History  of  the  Puritans,  Delaune's  Narrative,  Se- 
wel's  History  of  the  Quakers,  i'tc. 

♦  See  many  excommunicating'  canons,  and  particularly  one,  .1.  D.  1640, 
against  "the  damnable  and  cursed  heresy  of  Socinianism,"  as  it  is  termed, in 
Bishop  Sp.m-ow's  Collection. 

S^  1st  Eliz.  cap.  2.— 14  Car.  ii.  c.  4.     Item  Canon  36  et  38. 


Letter  XL 


It,  "When 
the  church 
h  as  these : 
/y,  the  glo- 
to  the  pri- 
)wn  under- 
;  means  are 
to  the  doc- 
\  faiih  and 
e  not  to  be 
the  conse- 
Why,  that 
I,  mention- 
ns,  and  an- 
lled,  which 
ed  that  the 
:siastical  as 
the  ancient 
L  make  their 
;s.     Hence, 
confessions 
;reeing  with 
and  rulers, 
ication,  de 
These  latter 
e  exercised 
\t  Catholics, 
ive  not  been 
tenible  sen- 
yr,  jven  now 
,vell  as  other 
passages  of 
which  it  ap- 
n ;  and  none 
ascribing  the 
njeig'ned  as- 
ained  in  the 
false  rule  of 

1. 

!>//er»  to  a  Pre- 
Narrative,  Se- 

e,  A.  D.  1640, 
it  is  termed,  in 


t 


religion,  thinkmg  Protestants  are  reduced  to  the  cruel  extremi- 
ty of  palpable  contradiction!  They  cannot  give  up  "the  glori- 
ous liberty,"  as  it  is  called  above,  of  explaining  the  Bible,  each 
one  for  himself,  without,  at  once,  giving  up  their  cause  to  the 
Catholics ;  and  they  cannot  adhere  to  it  without  many  of  the 
above  mentioned  fatal  consequences,  and  without  the  speedy 
dissolution  of  their  respective  churches.  Impatient  of  the  con- 
straint in  being  obliged  to  sign  articles  of  faith  which  the\'  do 
not  believe,  many  able  clergymen  of  the  establishment  ha^•e 
written  strongly  against  them,  and  have  even  petitioned  par- 
liament to  be  relieved  from  the  alleged  grievance  of  sub- 
scribing the  professed  doctrine  of  their  own  church.*  On  the 
other  hand,  the  legislature,  foreseeing  the  consequences  which 
would  result  from  the  removal  of  the  obligation,  have  always 
rejected  their  prayer:  and  the  judges  have  even  refused  to  ad- 
mit the  following  saho  in  addition  to  the  subscription:  "I  as- 
sent and  consent  to  the  Articles  and  the  Book,  as  far  as  they  are 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,^^\  In  these  straits,  many  of  the 
most  able  as  well  as  the  most  respectable  of  the  established 
clergy,  have  been  reduced  to  such  sophistry  and  casuistry,  as 
to  move  the  pity  of  their  very  opponents.  One  of  these,  the 
Norrisian  professor  of  divinity  at  Cambridge,:|:  as  one  way  of 
excusing  his  brethren  for  subscribing  articles  which  they  do 
not  believe  in,  cites  the  example  of  the  divines  of  Geneva, 
where,  he  says,  "a complete  tacit  reformation  seems  to  have 
iaken  place.  The  Genevese  have  now,  in  fact,  quitted  their 
Calvinistic  doctrines,  thougl ,  in  form^  they  retain  them.  — 
When  the  minister  is  admitted,  he  takes  an  oath  of  assent  to 
the  Scriptures,  and  professes  to  teach  them  according  to  the 
Catechism  of  Calvin;  but  this  laat  clause  about  Calvin, //c  makes 
a  separate  business^  speaking  lower,  or  altering  his  p^stiu'e,  or 
speaking  after  a  considerable  interval."^  Such  a  change  of 
posture,  or  tone  of  voice,  in  the  swearer,  our  learned  professor 
considers  as  sufficient  to  excuse  him  from  the  guilt  of  prevari- 
cation, in  swearing  contrary  to  the  plain  meaning  of  his  oaih! 
It  is  not,  however,  intiniuted  that  the  professor  himself  has  re- 
course to  this  expedient:  his  particular  system  is,  that  'Hht 
chu''ch  of  England,  like  that  of  (ieneva,  has,  of  late,  undergone 
a  complete  t:^rit  reformation^W  and  hence  that  the  sense  of  its 

•  There  was  such  a  petrtiori,  signed  by  a  great  number  of  clergymen,  and 
supported  l)y  many  otliers,  in  \77Z, 

t  See  Coiif'cssiunal,  p,  183. 

i  Lectures  in  Di\'uutv,  delivered  in  the  univeraity  of  Cambridge,  by  J.  lley, 
.'-V  P.  its  NoiTisiiin  professor,  1797,  vol.  ii.  p.  57. 

§  Ibid. 

I  Ibid.  p.  48,  (particularly  in  its  approacri  to  Socinianism,  frnm  which  he 
•igiiifies  it  is  divideil  nnly  by  u  few  •'unmeaning  words.") 

I 


66 


Letter  XL 


articles  of  faith  is  to  be  determined  by  circumstanccesy*  Thus 
he  adds  (referring,  1  presume,  to  the  statutes  of  King's  col- 
lege, Cambridge)  the  oath,  "  I  will  say  so  many  masses  for 
the  soul  of  Henry  VI.,  may  come  to  mean,  I  will  perform  the 
religious  dutivs  required  of  me ! !"f  The  celebrated  moralist, 
Dr.  Paley,  justifies  a  departure  from  the  original  sense  of  the 
articles  of  religion  subscribed,  by  an  INCONVENIENCE^ 
which  is  manifest  beyond  all  doubt  !!\  Archdeacon  Powtll, 
master  of  St.  John's  college,  defends  the  English  clergy  from 
the  charge  of  subscribing  what  they  do  nc  t  believe,  because,  he 
says,  **The  Ciime  is  impossible:  as  that  cannot  be  the  sense  of 
the  declara'ion  which  no  one  imagines  to  be  its  sense ;  nor  can 
that  interpretation  be  erroneous  which  all  have  received  !:j:  And 
yet  such  prelates  as  Seeker,  Hprseley,  Cleaver,  Pretyman,  witli 
all  the  judges,  strongly  maintain  that  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
Articles  must  be  strictly  adhered  to!  .  ^  : ,  ; 

I  could  cite  many  other  dignitaries,  or  other  leading  clergy, 
men,  of  the  establishment,  and  nearly  the  whole  host  of  dis- 
senters^ who  have  recourse  to  such  quibbles  and  evasions,  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  the  plain  sense  of  the  articles  and  creeds,  to 
which  they  have  solemnly  engaged  themselves  before  the  Crea- 
tor, as,  I  am  convinced  they  would  not  make  use  of  in.any  con- 
tract  with  a  i'ellow  creature:  but  I  hasten  to  take  in  hand  trie 
admired  Discourses  of  my  friend,  Dr.  Balguy.  He  was  the 
champion,  the  very  Achilles,  of  those  who  defended  the  sub- 
scription  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  against  the  petitioners 
foi  the  abrogation  of  it,  in  1772.  And  how  thjnk  you,  dear 
sir,  did  he  defend  it?  Not  by  vindicating  the  truth  of  the  ar- 
tides  themselves,  much  less  by  any  of  the  quibbles  mentioned 
or  alluded  to  above ;  but  upon  the  principle,  that  an  exterior 
show  of  uniformity  in  the  ministers  of  religion  is  necessary  for 
the  support  of  it ;  and  that,  therefore,  they  ought  to  subscribe 
and  teach  the  doctrine  prescribed  to  them  by  the  law,  whatever 
they  may  inwardly  think  of  it.  Thus  it  was  that  he  and  many 
of  his  friends  imagined  it  possible  to  unite  religious  liberty 
with  ecclesiastical  restrictions.  But  I  will  give  you  the  arch- 
deacon's own  words,  in  one  of  his  charges  to  his  clergy.  "  The 
articles,  we  will  say,  are  not  exactly  ivhat  %ve  might  wish  them 
to  be.  Some  of  them  are  expressed  in  doubtful  terms;  others 
are  inaccurate^  perhaps,  Jinplulosophival:  others  again  may 
chance  to  tnislead  an  ignoran^  reader  into  some  erroneous  opi- 


•  Lectures  in  Divinity,  &c.  p.  49.  -j-  Ibid.  p.  62 

i  Moral  and  Polit.  Philos.     Not  having-  this  work,  or  Dr.  Powell's  Serinon 
•t  hand,  I  here  quote  frrra  Overton's  True  Chnrchman,  o.  ^o7. 
%  Senn.  on  Subacnp. 


Letter  XI, 


67 


'«."*  Thus 
King's  col- 
masses  for 
)erform  the 
X  moralist, 
ense  of  the 
IINIENCE, 
on  Powell, 
lergy  from 
because,  he 
the  sense  of 
,se ;  nor  can 
ved!:}:  And 
lyman,  with 
ining  of  the 

ling  clergy, 
lost  of  dis- 
evasions,  in 
d  creeds,  to 
re  the  Crea- 
'  in.any  con- 
In  hand  the 
lie  was  the 
led  the  sub- 
I  petitioners 
k  you,  dear 
;h  of  the  ar- 
i  mentioned 
an  exterior 
ecessary  for 
to  subscribe 
w,  whatever 
le  and  many 
;ious  liberty 
ou  the  arch- 
ergy.  *'The 
\t  ivish  them 
Jrms;  others 
again  may 
roneoiis  opi' 


\.  p.  62 
owell's  Sermon 


n'ions:^  but  is  there  any  one  among  th^.n  that  leads  to  imrno* 
ral'tty?  Is  there  one  in  the  number  that  will  make  us  revenge- 
ful or  cruel  ?"  &c.f  On  this  principle,  you  might,  in  the  Eastern 
world,  conscientiously  swear  your  assent  and  consent  to  the  fa- 
bles of  the  Koran  or  the  Vedam ! !  But,  to  proceed :  he  says, "  No- 
thing is  clearer  than  that  the  uniform  appearance  of  religion  is 
the  cause  of  its  general  and  easy  reception.  Destroy  this  uni- 
formity, and  you  cannot  but  introduce  doubt  and  perplexity 
into  the  minds  of  the  people.":|:  Again,  he  says,  "I  am  far 
from  wishing  to  discourage  the  clergy  of  the  established  church 
from  thinking  for  themselves,  or  from  speaking  what  theythink, 
nor  even  from  writing.  I  say  nothing  against  the  right  of  pri- 
vate judgment  or  speech,  I  only  contend  that  men  ought  not 
to  attack  the  church  from  those  very  pulpits,  in  which  they 
^\  ere  placed  for  her  defence."^  What  is  this  doctrine  of  the 
subscription  champion,  dear  sir,  I  appeal  to  you,  but  a  defence 
of  the  most  vile  and  sacrilegious  hypocrisy  that  can  possibly  be 
imagined?  He  leaves  the  clergy  at  liberty  to  disbelieve  in^  to 
tuiL\  and  even  to  'w.he^  against  the  doctrine  of  their  church; 
but  requires  them  vn  the  pulpit  to  defend  it!  I  agree  with  him 
that  contradictory  doctrines  publicly  maintained  by  ministers  of 
the  same  religion,  is  the  way  to  make  the  adherents  of  it  re- 
nounce it  entirely :  but  will  not  that  effect  more  certainly  fol- 
low fron*  the  people's  discovering,  as  they  must  in  the  case 
supposed  discover,  that  their  clergy  do  not  themselves  believe 
in  the  dortrrne.?  which  thty  preach! 

But  this  system  of  deceiving  the  people  is  not  peculiar  to 
Dr.  Balguy  :  it  is  avowed  by  his  friend  and  master,  bisnop 
Hoadle),  and  represented  by  archdeacon  Blackburn,  from 
whom  I  take  the  following  passage,  as  being  very  generally 
adopted.!] — "  In  all  proposals  and  schemes  to  be  reduced  to 
practice,"  the  l.ishop  says,  "  we  must  suppose  the  world  to  be 
what  it  ?.y,  and  ivhat  it  ought  to  be.  We  must  propose,  not 
merely  what  is  absolutely  good  in  itself,  but  what  is  sc  with 
respect  to  the  prejudices,  tempers,  and  constitutions,  we  know 
and  are  sure  to  be  among  us.  It  is  represented  that  the  world 
was  never  less  disposed  to  be  serious  and  reasonable  than  at 

•  Which  art'f'r's  they  are  that  the  doctor  particularly  object!  to,  we  can 
easily  gather,  from  his  general  language  concerning  mysteries,  the  sacra* 
mcnts,  and  our  red -mption  by  Christ.  On  this  last  head,  he  seriously  cau> 
tions  us  against  •'censuring  or  persecuting  our  brethren  because  theirnon- 
itnse  and  ouv's  wears  a  diltcrent  dress."  Charge  ii.  p.  192. 

\  rhnrge  vi.  p.  293. 

\  Charge  v.  p.  257. 

§  Disc.  vii.  p.  120,  Discourses  oy  Thomas  Balguy  D.  D.  archdeacon  and 
pvebcndary  of  Winchester,  &c.  dedicated  to  the  king.  Lockyer  Daviea,  1785, 

U  Confissional,  p.  ?,7S,  p.  385. 
9* 


68 


Letter  XI, 


Pi- ft-, 


this  period.  Religious  reflection,  we  are  informed,  is  i>.  i  *\q 
humour  of  the  times.  We  are  therefore  advised  to  keep  our 
prudence  and  our  patience  a  little  longer;  to  wait  till  our  pec- 
pie  are  in  a  better  temper,  and  in  the  mean  time,  to  bear  with 
their  manners  and  dispositions  ;  gently  and  gradually  correct- 
ing their  foolish  notions  and  habits  ;  hut  still  taking  care  not  to 
throw  in  more  light  upon  them^  at  once^  than  the  weak  optics 
ofmen^  so  long  used  to  sit  in  darkness^  are  able  to  bear^''  His 
lordship's  words  are  guarded,  but  perfectly  intelligible.  Bishop 
Hoadley  had  undermined  the  church  he  professed  to  sujjport, 
in  her  doctrine  and  discipline,  as  has  been  elsewhere  demon- 
strated,* and  he  wished  all  the  clerg)  to  co-operate  in  diflusing 
his  Socinian  system  ;  but  he  advised  them  to  attempt  this  gen- 
tly and  gradually y  bearing  with  the  people's  foolish  notions^ 
and  not  throxving  too  much  light  upon  them  at  once :  in  other 
words,  continuing  to  subscribe  the  Articles  and  to  preach  them 
from  the  pulpit,  being  inwardly  persuaded  at  the  same  time, 
that  they  are  not  only  false,  but  also  foolish  f — Thus,  dear  sir, 
you  have  seen  the  necessity  to  which  the  different  Protestant 
societies  have  found  themselves  reduced,  of  occasionally  ap- 
pealing to  tradition,  and  of  assuming  authority  to  dictate  con- 
fessions and  articles  of  religion  in  direct  violation  of  their 
boasted  charter  of  private  judgment ;  and  you  have  seen  that 
this  inconsistency  has  rendered  the  remedy  worse  than  the  dis- 
ea.se.  These  weapons,  not  being  natural  to  them,  have  been 
turned  against  them,  and  have  mortally  wounded  them :  and 
*••  the  church  of  England  in  particular,"  as  one  of  its  principal 
defenders  complains,  "is  like  an  oak,  cleft  to  shivers  with 
wedges  made  out  of  its  own  body."f  You  will  now  see  with 
what  ease  and  success  the  Catholic  church  wields  these  wea- 
pons ;  but,  first,  I  think  it  best  to  add  something  by  way  of  con- 
firming and  elucidating  this  Catholic  rule. 

111.  What  has  been  said  above  in  proof  of  the  Catholic 
rule,  namely,  that  Christ  established  it  when  he  sent  his  apos- 
tles to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  that  the  apostles  followed  it, 
when  they  established  churches  throughout  different  nations, 
is  so  incontcstible  as  not  to  be  denied  by  any  of  our  learned 
(opponents :  still  less  will  they  deny,  that  the  ancient  fathers 
and  the  doctors  of  the  church,  in  every  age,  maintained  this 
rule.  Accordingly,  one  of  the  latest  and  most  learned  Pro- 
testant controvertists  writes  thus,  "  No  one  will  deny  that  Je- 
sus Christ  laid  the  foundation  of  his  church  by  preaching :  nca* 
can  we  deny  that  the  unwritten  Word  was  the  first   rule   ot 

•Letter,  to  a  Prebendary,  Art.  Iloadleyipm. 
f  Dauben}  'b  Guide  to  the  Church,  Append. 


Letter  XI, 


,99 


Christianity."*  This  being  granted,  it  was  incumbent  on  his 
lordship  to  demonstrate,  and  this  by  no  less  an  authority  than 
that  which  established  the  rule,  at  what  precise  period  it  was 
abrogated.  Was  it  when  this  Gospel  or  that  Gospel,  when 
this  Epistle  or  that  Epistle,  was  written,  though  known  only  to 
particular  congregations  or  persons,  that  the  pastors  of  the 
church  lost  their  authority  of  proclaiming.  So  we  have  received 
from  the  apostles,  or  the  disciples  of  the  apostles  :  so  all  the 
other  pastors  of  the  Catholic  church  believe  and  teach  ?  Or 
was  this  abrogation  of  the  first  rule  of  Christianity  deferred 
till  the  canon  of  Scripture  was  fixed,  at  the  erid  of  the  fourth 
century  ?  So  far  from  there  being  divine  authority,  there  is 
not  even  a  hint  in  ecclesiastical  history  on  which  to  ground  this 
pretended  alteration  in  the  rule  of  faith.  His  Lordship's  only 
tbundation  is  his  own  conjecture :  "It  is  extremely  improba- 
ble," he  says,  "  that  an  all-wise  Providence,  in  imparting  a  new 
revelation  to  mankind,  would  suffer  any  doctrine  or  article  of 
faith  to  be  transmitted  to  posterity  by  so  precarious  a  vehicle 
as  that  of  oral  tradition."!  The  bishop  of  London^  had  be- 
fore said  nearly  the  same  thing,  as  well  with  respect  to  tradi- 
tion being  the  original  rule  as  to  the  improbability  of  its  continu- 
ing to  be  so, " considering,"  as  he  says,  "how liable  the  easiest 
story,  transmitted  by  the  word  of  mouth,  is  to  be  essentially 
altered  in  the  course  of  one  or  two  hundred  years."  But,  to  the 
opinions  of  these  learned  prelates,  I  oppose,  m  the  first  place, 
undeniable yacf*.  It  is,  then,  certain,  that  the  whole  doctrine 
and  practice  of  religion,  including  the  rites  of  sacrifice,  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  Sacred  History,  was  preserved  by  the  patri- 
archs, in  succession^  from  Adam  down  to  Moses,  during  the 
space  of  twenty-four  hundred  years,  by  means  of  tradition : 
and,  when  the  law  was  written,  many  most  important  truths, 
regarding  a  future  life,  the  emblems  and  prophecies  concern- 
ing the  Messiah,  and  the  inspiration  and  authenticity  of  the 
Sacred  Books  themselves,  were  preserved  in  the  same  way. — 
Secondly,  it  is  unwarrantable  in  these  prelates  to  compare  the 
essential  traditions  of  religion,  with  ordinary  stories :  in  the 
truth  of  these  no  one  has  an  interest,  and  no  means  have  been 
provided  to  preserve  them  from  corruption  ;  whereas,  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints,  the  church  has  ever  guarded  as  the 
apple  of  her  eye,  and  all  ecclesiastical  history  witnesses  the  ex- 
treme care  and  pains  which  were  taken  in  ancient  times  by  the 
pastors  to  instruct  the  faithful  in  the  tenets  and  practices   of 

•  Comparative  View    of  the    Churches,  p.  61,  by  Dr.  (now  bishop) 
Marsh, 
tibid  p.  67.  ^  Dr.  Porteus,  Brief  Confut. 


TO 


Letter  XL 


their  religion,  previously  to  their  being  baptized  :*  the  same 
are  generally  taken  by  their  successors  previously  to  the  con- 
firmation  and  first  communion  of  their  neophytes  at  the  pre- 
sent day.  Thirdly,  when  any  fresh  controversy  arises  in  the 
church,  the  fundamental  maxim  of  the  bisops  and  Popes,  to 
whom  it  belongs  to  decide  upon  it,  is,  not  to  consult  their  own 
private  opinion  or  interpretation  of  Scripture,  but  to  inquire 
Ijj,  what  is  and  ever  has  been  the  doctrine  of  the  churchy  poncern- 

ing  it.  Hence,  their  cry  is  and  ever  has  been,  on  such  occa- 
sions, as  well  in  council  as  out  of  it :  So  we  have  received  :  so 
the  universal  church  believes :  let  there  be  no  new  doctrine : 
none  but  what  has  been  delivered  down  to  us  by  tradition.f— 
Fourthly,  the  tradition  of  which  we  now  treat,  is  fiot  a  local 
liut  a  universal  tradition,  as  widely  spread  as  the  Catholic 
church  itself  is,  and  being  found  every  where  the  same.  The 
maxim  of  the  sententious  Tertullian  must  be  admitted :  "Er- 
ror," he  says,  "of  course,  varies,  but  that  doctrine  which  is  one 
ail  the  same  among  many,  is  not  an  error  but  a  tradition/'^ 
{>y*ver  liable  men,  and  particularly  illiterate  men,  are  to  be- 
lieve in  fables  ;  yet  if,  on  the  discovery  of  America,  the  inha- 
bitants of  it,  from  Hudson^s  Bay  to  Cape  Horn,  had  been  found 
to  agree  in  the  same  account  of  their  origin  and  general  histuiT, 
we  snould  cert.iinly  give  credit  to  them.  But,  fifthly,  in  the 
])resent  case,  they  arc  not  the  Catholics  of  different  ages  and 
nations  alone  who  vouch  for  the  traditions  in  question,  I  mean 
those  rejected  by  Protestants,  but  all  the  subsistingheretics  and 
schismatics  of  tormer  ages  without  exception.  The  Nestori- 
ans  and  Eutychians,  for  example,  desertea  t!te  Catholic  church, 
in  defence  of  opposite  errors,  near  fourteen  hundred  years  ago, 
and  still  form  regular  churches  under  bishops  and  patriarchs 
throughout  the  East :  in  like  manner  the  Greek  schismatics 
properly  so  called,  broke  off  from  the  Latin  church,  for  the 
last  time,  in  the  eleventh  century.  Theirs  is  well  known  to  be 
the  prevailing  religion  of  Christians  throughout  the  Turkish 
and  KuHsian  empires.  Nevertheless,  these  and  all  the  other 
Christian  sectaries  of  ancient  date,  agree  upon  every  article  in 
dispute  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  (except  that  of  the 
Pope's  supremacy)  with  the  former  and  condemn  the  latter.^ 
Let  Dr.  Porteus  an  '   the  other  controvertists,  who  declaim 


S'* 


•  See  PItury's  Mofura  des  Chref,.  Hartley,  in  bishop  WaUon'i  Col.  vol. 
y.p.  91. 

f  "  Nil  innovetur  :  nil  nisi  quod  traditum  es':."  Stcph.  Papal. 

•♦  ♦  Varia'isp  tlcbcrct  cmtop,  Hcd  quod  umim  apud  niultoa  invenitur,  non  eit 
rrratini,  ned  tr»dituin."  I'rxacrip.  advers.  Hacrct. 

^  Sfc  tlip  prool*  of  lliis,  ill  tht;  Pcrp'tuite  de  la  Foi,  copied  fh>rn  the  origl' 
n«l  docuineritit,  in  the  Krincli  kitig'^  lil)r»ry, 


■J 


Letter,  XL 


•on't  Col.  vol. 


acainst  the  alleged  ignorance  and  vices  of  tlic  Catholic  clergj' 
and  laity  during  tht  five  or  six  ages  preceding  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  pretend  to  show  how  the  tenets  which  they  object  to 
might  have  been  introduced  into  our  church,  explain  how  pre. 
cisely  the   same   could  have    been  quietly  received    by  the 
Nestorians  at  Bagdad,  the  Eutychians  at  Alexandria,  and  the 
Greeks  at  Moscow !  All  these,  and  particularly  the  last  named, 
were    ever  ready    to    find   fault   with  us  upon    subjects  ot 
comparatively  small  consequence,  such  as  the  use  of  unleaven- 
ed bread  in  the  sacrament,  the  days  and  manner  of  our  fasting, 
and  even  the  mode  of  shaving  our  beards  ;  and  yet,  so  far 
from  objecting  to  the  pretended  novelties  of  prayers  for  the 
dead,  addresses  to  the  saints,  the  mass,  the  real  presence,  Sec, 
they  have  alwavs  professed,  and  continue  to  profess,  these  doc- 
trines anr*  practices  as  zealously  as  we  do.      •'•>  \  rnv  ii  cu  •'c    r 
Finally,  by  way  of  the  farther  answer  to  his  lordship's  shame- 
ful calumny,  that  the  ancient  "  clergy  and  laity  were  so  univer- 
sally and  monstrously  ignorant  and  vicious,  that  nothing  was 
too  bad  tor  them  to  do  or  too  absurd  for  them  to  believe," 
thereby  insinuating  that  the  former   invented  and  the  latter 
were  duped  into  the  belief  of  the  articles  on  which  the  Catho- 
lic church  and  the  church  of  England  are  divided  ;  as  also  by 
way  of  tarther  confirming  the  certainty  of  tradition,  I  maintain 
that  it  would  have  been  much  easier  for  the  ancientclergy  to  cor- 
mpt  the  Scriptures  than  the  religious  belief  of  the  people.  For, 
it  is  well  known  that  the  Scriptures  were  chiefly  m  the  hands 
of  the  clergy,  and  that,  before  tne  use  of  printing,  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  copies  of  it  were  renewed  and  mukiplied  in  the 
monasteries  by  the  labour  of  the  monks,  who,  if  they  had  been 
so  wicked,  might  with  some  prospect  of  success,  have  attempt- 
ed to  alter  the  New  Testament,  in  particular,  as  they  pleased  ; 
whereas,  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  chuich  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  of  all  civilized  nations,  and,  therefore, 
could  not  be  altered   without  their  knowledge   and  consent 
Hence,  wherever  religious  novelties  were  introduced,  a  violent 
opposition  to  them,  and,  of  course,  tumults  and  schisms,  would 
nj  ve  ensued.  If  they  had  been  generally  received  in  one  country, 
as  for  example,  in  France,  this  would  have  been  the  occasion  of 
t'leir  being  rejected  with  redoubled  antipathy  in  a  neighbour- 
\x\\r  hostile   nation,   as,  for  instance,  England.     Yet  none   of 
thi'se  disturbances  or  schisms  do  we  read  ot,  respecting  anv  of 
the  doctrine*  or  practices  of  our  religion,  objected  to  by  Pro- 
testants, either  in   the  same   kingdom,  or  among  the  different 
states  of  Christianity.     I  said  that  the  doctrines  and  practices 
<  f  riligion  were  in  the  hands  of  all  "the  people,"  in  tact  they 
were  all,  in  every  part  of  the  church,  oblitfed  to  receive  ihc 


72 


Utter  XL 


i' 
I*" 

If- 


holy  sacrament  at  Easter ;  now  they  could  not  do  this  without 
knowing  whether  they  had  been  previously  taught  to  consider 
this  as  bread  and  wine  taken  in  memory  of  Christy  or  as  the 
real  bodt/ and  blood  of  Christ  himself.  If  they  had  originally 
held  the  former  opinion,  could  they  have  been  persuaded  or 
dragooned  into  the  latter,  without  violent  opposition  on  their 
part,  and  violent  persecution  on  that  of  their  clerg)'  ?  Again, 
they  could  not  assist  at  the  religious  services  performed  at  the 
funerals  of  their  relations,  or  on  the  festivals  of  the  saints,  with- 
out  recollecting  whether  they  had  previously  been  instruct ;?(! 
to  pray  for  the  former,  and  to  invoke  the  prayers  of  the  lat*  er. 
If  they  had  not  been  so  instructed,  would  they,  one  and  a',.,  at 
the  same  time,  and  in  every  country,  have  quietly  yielded  to 
the  first  imposters  who  preached  up  such  supposed  supersti- 
tions to  them ;  as,  in  this  case,  we  are  sure  they  must  have 
done  ?  In  a  word,  there  is  but  one  way  of  accounting  for  the 
alleged  alterations  in  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  that  mention- 
ed by  the  learned  Dr.  Bailey  ;*  which  is  to  suppose  that,  on 
some  one  night,  all  the  Christians  of  the  world  went  to  sleep 
sound  Protestants,  and  awoke  the  next  morning  rank  Papists ! 

IV.  I  now  ccme  to  consider  the  benefits  derived  from  the 
Catholic  rule  or  method  of  religion.  The  first  part  of  this  rule 
conducts  us  to  the  second  part ;  that  is  to  say,  tradition  conducts 
us  to  Scripture.  We  have  setn  that  Protestants,  by  their  own 
cjjnfession,  are  obliged  to  build  the  latter  upon  the  former;  in 
doing  which  ihey  act  most  inconsistently :  whereas  Catholics, 
in  doing  the  same  thing,  act  with  perfect  consistency.  Again, 
Protestants  in  building  Scripture,  aa  they  do,  upon  tradition, 
as  a  mere  human  testimony,  not  as  a  rt//e  of  faith  ^  can  only  form 
an  act  of  human  faith^  that  is  to  say,  an  opinion  of  its  being  in- 
spired  ;f  whereas  Catholics,  believing  in  the  tradition  of  the 
thurch,  as  a  div  ne  rule^  are  enabled  to  believe,  nnd  ,lo  helitvc 
in  the  Scriptures  with  ^  firm  faith ^  as  the  ctrtain  Word  of  (iocl. 
Hence  the  Catholic  church  n^quires  her  pastors,  who  are  lo 
preach  and  expound  the  Word  of  God,  to  study  this  s«  c  n  1 
part  of  her  rule  no  less  thun  the  first  part,  with  uiremitiing 
diligence;  and  she  encourages  those  of  her  ^ock,  who  aie  po- 
jierly  qualified  and  disposed,  to  read  it  for  their  cdifi'  uion. 

In  perusing  the  books  of  the   Old  Testciment,  s  .1   the 

nujst  striking  passages  are  those  which  regard  the  pu  i0^,atiM> 


■•  Hp  was  son  of  tlic  bUliop  of  Bunfcur,  and  hecominR'  a  convert  to  ih*-  ( ;i- 
tbolic  thurcli,  wrote  »ever»I  v^orkHin  Iut  dtfVncc;  uixl  uinoni^  tlic  rvHt,  our 
uiidirlho  litlr  uf  tlicHC  L«"ttPi-»,  hikI  Hnotliir  calk-d  A  ('liullfH|f«', 

t  t:|iillin)(wortli  in  his  Hflijfion  ofProlpstHntH,  rhsp.  ii.  fxprc<<sly  tourlx 
titut  *•  rhe  bookn  of  Hcriptun'  ure  not  thf  objertH  of  our  fititli,"  and  K\\,\\  ' 
Mmii  liiu)  bf  (iuvvJ,  who  Hhould  not  btlir  «■-  tlit-m  tu  W  tlu   Wurd  oi'lioU." 


Letter  XL 


of  t1i€  future  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  namely,  the  extent,  the 
visibility,  and  indefectibility  of  the  church :  in  examining  the 
New  Testament,  we  find  in  several  of  its  clearest  passages,  the 
strongest  proofs  of  its  being  an  infallible  guide  in  the  way  of 
Salivation.  The  texts  alluded  to  have  been  already  cited.  Hence 
we  look  upon  the  church  with  increased  veneration,  and  listen 
to  her  decisions  with  redoubled  confidence. — But  here  I  think 
it  necessary  to  refute  an  objection  which,  I  believe,  was  first 
started  by  Dr.  Stillingfleet,  and  has  since  been  adopted  by  many 
other  controvertists.  They  say  to  us,  you  ctrgue^  in  what  logi" 
dans  call,  a  vicious  circle:  for  you  prove  Scripture  by  your 
churchy  and  then  your  church  by  Scripture,  This  is  like  John 
giving  a  character  to  Thomas,  and  Thomas  a  character  to  john» 
True  it  is,  that  I  prove  the  inspiration  of  Scripture  by  the  tra- 
dition of  the  church,  and  that  I  prove  the  infallibility  of  the 
rhurch  by  the  testimony  of  Scripture ;  but  you  must  take  notice, 
that  independently  of,  and  prior  io,  the  testimony  of  Scripture, 
I  knew  from  tradition,  and  the  general  arguments  of  the  credi- 
I  ility  of  Christianity,  that  the  church  is  an  illustrious  society, 
instituted  by  Christ,  and  that  its  pastors  have  been  appointed 
hy  him  to  guide  me  in  the  way  oi  salvation.  In  a  word,  it  is 
not  every  kind  of  mutual  testimony  which  runs  in  a  vicious  cir- 
(If:  tor  the  Baptist  bore  testimony  to  Christ,  and  Christ  bore 
ttstimony  to  the  Baptist. 

V.  The  advantage,  and  even  necessity,  of  having  a  living, 
spL'iiking  authority  for  preserving  peace  and  order  in  every  so- 
ciety is  too  obvious  to  be  called  in  question.  The  Catholic 
church  has  such  an  authority;  the  different  societies  of  Pro- 
testants, though  they  claim  it,  cannot  effectually  exe^  e  it,  as 
we  have  shown,  on  account  of  their  opposite  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  private  judgment.  Hence  when  debates  arise  among 
Caiholics  concerning  points  of  faith  (for  as  to  scholastic  ?na 
other  questions,  each  one  is  left  to  defend  his  o..^^  opinion,)  thtt 
posters  of  the  church,  like  judges  in  regard  of  civil  coutentionn, 
fail  not  to  examine  them  by  the  received  rule  of  faith,  and  to 
pronounce  an  authoritative  sentence  upon  them.  The  dispute 
IS  thus  quashed,  and  peace  is  restored:  for  if  any  party 
jvHl  not  hear  th^'  church,  he  is,  of  course,  regardeu  as  a  heathen 
and  a  /)ub/ican.  On  the  other  hand,  dissensions  in  any  Pro- 
testant society,  wiiich  adhere,  to  its  fundamental  rule  of  reli- 
gious lil)i-rty,  must  be  irremediable  and  endless. 

VI.  The  same  method  which  God  has  appointed  to  keep 
peace  in  his  church,  he  has  alsf.  appointed  to  preserve  it  in  the 
l)re:ists  of  her  several  children.  Hence  while  other  Christians, 
who  have  no  rule  of  faith  hut  their  own  fluctuating  opinions, 
are  carried  about  f>u  every  wind  of  doctrine,  aiid  arc  agitated 

K 


74 


Letter  XI 


by  dreadful  doubts  and  fears,  as  to  the  safety  of  the  road  they 
are  in ;  Catholics^  being  moored  to  the  rock  of  Christ's  church, 
never  experience  any  apprehension  whatsoever  on  this  head, 
The  truth  of  this  may  be  ascertained  by  questioning  pious  Ca- 
tholics, and  particularly  those  who  have  been  seriously  convert- 
ed from  any  species  or  Protestantism:  such  persons  are  gene- 
rally found  to  speak  in  raptures  of  the  p  ^ace  and  security  they 
enjoy  in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  church,  compared  with 
their  doubts  and  fears  before  they  embraced  it.  Still  the  death- 
lied  is  evidently  the  best  situation  for  making  this  inquiry.     I 
have  mentioned,  in  my  former  letter,  that  great  numbers  of 
Protestants,  at  the  approach  of  death,  seek  to  be  reconciled  to 
the  Catholic  church;  many  instances  of  this  are  notorious, 
though  many  more,  for  obvious  reasons,  are  concealed  from 
public  notice:  on  the  other  hand,  a  challenge  has  frequently 
been  made  by  Catholics  (among  the  rest  by  sir  Toby  Mathews, 
Dean  Cressy,  F.  Walsingham,  Molines  dit  Flechiere,  and  Ul- 
ric,  duke  or  Brunswick,  all  of  them  converts)  to  the  whole 
■vrorld  to  name  a  single  Cat^holic,  who,  at  the  hour  of  drain, 
expressed  a  wish  to  die  in  any  other  communion  than  his  own." 
I  have  now,  dear  sir,  fully  proved  what  I  undertook  to  prove, 
that  the  rule  of  faith  professed  by  rational  Protestants,  that  of 
Scripture  as  interpreted  by  each  person's  private  judgmem^  :s 
no  less  fallacious  than  the  rule  of  fanatics,  who  imagine  them- 
selves to  be  directed  by  an  individual^  private  imfyiration.     I 
have  shown  that  this  rule  is  evidently  unserviceable  to  injinitelii 
the  greater  part  of  mankind;  that  it  is  liable  to  lead  men  into 
error,  and  that  it  has  actually  led  vast  numbers  of  them  into 
endless  errors  and  shocking  impieties.  The  proof  of  these  points 
was  sufficient,  according  to  tne  principles  I  laid  down  at  the 
beginning  of  our  controversy,  to  disprove  the  rule  itself:  but  I 
have,  moreover,  demonstrated  that  our  divine  Master,  Christ, 
did  not  establish  this  rule,  nor  his  apostles  follow  it:  that  the 
Protesant  churches,  and  that  of  England,  in  particular,  were 
not  founded  according  to  this  rule :  and  that  mdividual  Pro- 
testants have  not  been  guided  by  it  in  the  choice  of  their  reli- 
gion :  finally,  that  the  adoption  of  it  leads  to  uncertainty  and 
uneasiness  of  mind  in  life,  and  more  particularly  at  the  hour  of 
death. — On  the  other  hand,  I  have  shown  that  the  Catholic 
rule,  that  of  the  entire  word  of  God,  unwritten  as  well  as  writ- 
ten, together  with  the  authority  of  the  living  pastors  of  the 
church  in  explaining  it,  was  appointed  by  Christ: — was  follow- 
ed by  th*"  apostles: — was  maintained  by  the  holy  fathers: — 
has  been  resorted  to  from  necessity,  in  both  particulars,  by  the 
ProtCBtani  congregations,  though  with  the  worst  success,  from 
tl»e  impossibility  of  uniting  private  judgment  with  it; — that 


tradition 
these  tw; 
mony  to 
pounding 
through 
by  adher 
and  secur 
It  rem 
who  hav 
mine  wh 
your  relij 
Were  it  \ 
thod,  witl 
could  ans 
pious  wri 
ed,  thou  J 
be  found 
[your  own 
juthorizei 
j  lor  such  p 
pray  hum 
and  stren^ 


Deai 

I  AMi 


•  "  Domi 
t  Hugh  o 


fbadthey 
:*s  church, 
this  head, 
pious  Ca- 
y  convert- 
are  gene- 
urity  they 
>ared  with 
the  death- 
iquiry.     I 
umbers  of 
onciled  to 
notorious, 
aled  from 
frequently 
Mathews, 
e,  and  Ul- 
the  whole 
of  death, 
1  his  own'. 
Ic  to  prove. 
Its,  that  of 
cfgmem^  :s 
;ine  them- 
ration.     I 
)  irifinitelif 
men  into 
them  into 
lese  points 
)\vn  at  the 
self:  but  I 
er,  Christ, 
t :  that  the 
ular,  were 
dual  Pro- 
their  reii- 
tainty  and 
:he  hour  of 
;  Catholic 
;11  as  writ- 
ers of  the 
f^as  follow- 
fathers : — 
irs,  by  the 
cess,  from 
1  it -.-—that 


letter  XII, 


PP" 


tradition  lays  a  firm  ground  for  divine  faith  in  Scripture :  that 
these  two  united  together  as  one  rule,  and  each  bearing  testi- 
mony to  the  living,  speaking  authority  of  the  chun  h  in  ex- 
pounding that  rule,  the  latter  is  preserved  in  peace  and  union 
through  all  ages  and  nations  :*— and,  in  short,  that  Catholics, 
by  adhering  to  this  rule  and  authority,  live  and  die  in  peacu 
and  security,  as  far  as  regards  the  truth  of  their  religion. 

It  remains  for  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  religious  friends, 
who  have  called  me  into  this  field  of  controversy,  to  deter- 
mine which  of  the  two  methods  you  will  follow,  in  settling 
vour  religious  concerns  for  time  and  FOR  ETERNITY 
Were  it  possible  for  me  to  err  in  following  the  Catholic  me- 
thod, with  such  a  mass  of  evidence  in  its  favour,  methinks  I 
could  answer  at  the  judgment  seat  of  Eternal  Truth,  with  a 
pious  writer  of  the  middle  ages:  "Lord,  if  I  have  been  deceiv- 
ed, thou  art  the  author  of  my  error."f  Whereas  should  you 
be  found  to  have  mistaken  the  right  way,  by  dtpcndiiig  upon 
your  own  private  opinion,  contrary  to  the  directions  of  )  our 
authorized  guides,  what  would  you  be  able  to  allege  in  excuse 
for  such  presumption  ? — ^Think  of  this  while  you  have  time,  and 
pray  humbly  and  earnestly  for  God's  holy  grace  to  enlighten 
and  strengthen  you. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  &c. 

J.  M 


LETTER  XII. 

TO  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq.  fyt. 

OBJECTIONS  ANSIVEKED.  '; 

Dear  Sir,  -    '  ] 

I  AM  not  forgetful  of  the  promise  I  made  in  my  last  lettc?  • 
ut  one,  to  answer  the  contents  of  those  which  I  had  then  re-  ' 
lived  from  yourself,  Mr.  Topham,  and  Mr.  Askew.  Within ' 
hcsc  few  days  1  have  received  other  letters  from  yourself  and  ' 

•  "  I)omi<  illium  pucia  et  unltatis"— S.  Cyp.  Ep.  46. 
m  t  Huk'>  of  Ht.  Victor. 
^  10 


76 


Letter  XIL 


r 


Mr.  Toptiini^  which,  cqaiUy  with  th.'  for:n'"r,  c.iW  f  ,)r  my  ntten. 
lion  to  their  substance.  However,  it  would  take  up  a  great  dr.\\ 
of  time  to  write  separate;  answers  to  eacli  of  these  letters,  and, 
Us  I  know,  that  they  are  arguments,  and  not  formalities,  which 
you  expect  from  me,  I  shall  make  this  letter  a  general  rejily  t 
the  several  objections  contained  in  them  all,  with  the  exce])iion 
of  such  as  have  been  answered  in  my  last  to  you.  Conceiving, 
also,  that  it  will  contribute  to  the  brevity  and  perspicuity  of 
my  letter,  if  I  arrange  the  several  objections,  from  whomsoever 
they  came,  under  their  proper  heads }  and  if,  on  this  occasion, 
I  make  use  of  the  scholastic  instead  of  the  epistolary  style, 
1  shall  adopt  both  these  methods*  I  must,  however,  remark, 
before  I  enter  upon  my  task,  that  most  of  the  objections  appear 
to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  bishop  of  Loiidon's  book  called 
a  Brief  Confutation  of  the  Errors  of  Popery.  This  was  ex- 
tracted  from  archbishop  Seeker's  Sermons  on  the  same  suhject; 
which,  themselves,  were  culled  out  of  his  predecessor  TiUot- 
son's  pulpit  controversy.  Hence  you  may  justly  consider  your 
arguments  as  the  strongest  which  can  be  brought  against  the 
Catholic  rule  and  religion.  Under  this  pei  suasion  the  work  in 
question  has  been  selected  for  gratuitous  distribution,  by  your 
tract  societies,  wherever  they  particularly  wish  to  restrain  or 
suppress  Catholicity. 

Against  the  Catholic  rule  it  is  objected  that  Christ  referred 
the  Jews  to  the  Scriptures :  Search  the  Scriptures ;  for  in  them 
ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life:  and  they  are  they  which  testifij  of 
me,  John  v.  35,  Again,  the  Jews  of  Berea  are  commendt  '1  ov 
the  sacred  penman,  in  that  they  search  the  Scriptures  u^ulij, 
whether  these  things  were  sa.  Acts  xvii.  11, 

Before  I  enter  on  the  discussion  of  any  part  of  Scripture, 
with  you  or  your  friends,  I  am  bound,  dear  sir,  in  conformity 
with  my  rule  of  faith,  as  explained  b)  tlie  fathers,  and  particu- 
larly by  Tertullian,  to  protest  against  your  or  their  right  to  ar- 
gue from  Scripture,  and,  of  course,  to  dcn\-  any  need  there  is 
of  my  replying  to  anv  objection  which  you  may  draw  from  it. 
For  I  have  reminded  you  that,  N'  prophecy  of  Scripture  is  oj 
any  private  enterpretation ;  and  I  have  proved  to  you  that  the 
whole  business  of  the  Scriptures  belongs  to  the  church:  she  has 
preserved  them,  she  vouches  for  them,  and,  she  plone,  by  con- 
frontint-  them,  and  by  the  help  of  tradition,  authoritatively  ex- 
plains tnem.  Hence  it  is  impossible  that  the  real  sense  of  Scrip- 
ture should  ever  be  against  her  and  her  doctrine  ;  and  hence, 
of  course,  I  might  quash  every  obiertron  which  vou  can  draw 
from  any  passage  in  it  by  this  siiort  rcjjjy,  'ihc  church  nn< 
deratanJfi  t'>c  pussacc  tlij^c>cn(/ij  from  you ;  therefore  you  ink- 
take  its  meaning.  Nevertheless,  as  charity  hcartth  all  thiiij^-! 
and  -.leiHr  faikth^  I  will,  for  ihc  belter  sailafying  of  youanJ 


\-our  frien 

swer  disti 

any  of  yo 

brought  aj 

By  way 

whether  C 

tiniated  tl 

.vhich  he  ' 

successors, 

secondly, 

Scripture, 

was  then  \ 

be  agitate( 

tion  betwe 

was  not  tl 

(luced  the 

detailed  b 

he  wrougl 

fulfilled  ir 

tist.     The 

In-  St  Lul 

cies,  to  ve 

and  in  su< 

marked  b 

;\nd  other 

siiymg  an 

versies. 

Dr.  Po 
his  Gospc 
ttanding' 
order,  mo 
certainty 
Again  St 
mii^'ht  he 
believing- 
Answt 
an  argun 
he  does  1 
his  did ;?' 
In/  word 
list  gain' 
that  heai 
16.     In 
aiony  of 
iiiiy,  or  1 
«ii  lions. 


■I 


ir  my  attcn. 

a  great  deal 

letters,  and, 

itics,  which 

;ral  rej^ly  m 

le  exception 

"onceiving, 

rspicuity  of 

v^homsoever 

is  occasion, 

olary  style, 

^er,  remark, 

tions  appear 

book  called 

his  was  ex- 

«Tie  suhject; 

;s>-or  Tillot- 

maider  your 

against  the 

the  work  in 

ion,  by  your 

>  restrain  or 

rist  referred 
for  hi  them 
ich  testij'ij  oj 
nmendt '!  d^ 
tures  c,^:ilij, 

f  SGriptiuT, 
conformitv 
tmd  particu- 
right  to  ar- 
ced there  is 
"aw  from  it. 
rrpttire  is  cj 
ou  that  the 
•ch :  she  har» 
me,  by  con- 
tatively  ex- 
ise  of  Scrip- 
and  hence, 
u  can  draw 
V lunch  ttih 
re  yrjii  mis- 
h  all  tliin;^i 

ui    ^'OU  UIlll 


Letter  XII, 


«;• 


\-our  friends,  quit  my  va  itage  ground  for  the  present,  and  an- 
swer distinctly  to  eveiy  text  not  yet  answered  by  me,  which 
any  of  you,  gentlemen,  or  which  Dr.  Porteus  himself,  has 
brought  against  the  Catholic  method  of  religion.   '  •       ' 

By  way  of  answering  your  first  objection,  let  me  ask  you, 
whether  Christ,  by  telling  the  Jews  to  search  the  Scriptures  in- 
timated that  they  were  not  to  believe  in  his  unwritten  Word^ 
,vhich  he  was  then  preaching,  nor  to  hear  his  apostles  and  their 
successors^  with  whom  he  promised  to  remain  forever  ?  I  ask, 
secondly,  on  what  particular  question  Christ  referred  to  the 
Scripture,  namely,  the  Old  Scripture?  (for  no  part  of  the  New 
was  then  written)  was  it  on  any  question  that  has  been  or  might 
be  agitated  among  Qhristians?  No,  certainly:  the  sole  ques- 
tion between  him  and  the  infidel  Jews,  was,  whether  he  was  or 
was  not  the  Messiah :  in  proof  that  he  was  the  Messiah,  he  ad- 
uced  the  ordinary  motives  of  credibility,  as  they  have  been 
detailed  by  your  late  worthy  rector,  Mr.  Carey,  the  miracles 
he  wrought,  and  the  prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament  that  were 
fulfilled  in  him,  as  likewise  the  testimony  of  St  John  the  Bap- 
tist. The  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  commendations  bestowed 
In-  St  Luke  on  the  Bereans;  they  searched  the  ancient  prophe- 
cies, to  verify  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  born  at  s\ich  a  time, 
and  in  such  a  place,  and  that  his  life  and  his  death  were  to  be 
marked  by  such  and  such  circumstances.  We  still  refer  Jews 
;ind  other  Infidels  to  the  same  proofs  of  Christianity,  without 
saying  any  thing  yet  to  them  about  our  rule  or  judge  of  contro- 
versies. ■         ■'• 

Dr.  Porteus  objects  what  St  Luke  says,  at  the  beginning  of 
his  Gospel :  It  seemed  good  to  me  also^  having  had  perfect  under' 
standing  of  all  ihingsJVom  the  very  firsts  to  write  unto  thee  in 
order ^  most  excellent  Theophilus^  that  thou  mightest  know  the 
certainty  of  those  things  wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed. 
Again  St.  John  savs,  c.  xx.  These  things  are  written  that  ye 
might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christy  the  Son  of  God;  and  that 
believing  ye  might  have  life  through  hii  name. 

Answer.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  his  lordship  can  draw 
an  argument  from  these  texts  against  the  Catholic  rule.  Surely 
hj  docs  not  g-ather  from  the  words  of  St.  Luke,  that  Theophi- 
liis  did  not  believe  the  articles  in  which  he  had  been  instructed 
1)1/  word  of  mouth  till  he  read  this  Gospel!  or  that  the  evange- 
list gainsayed  the  authority  given  by  Christ  to  his  disciples :  He 
that  heareth  you  hcareth  mf ,  which  he  himself  records,  Luke  x. 
16.  In  like  manner  the  prelate  cannot  suppose  that  this  testi- 
mony of  St.  John  sets  aside  other  testimonies  of  Christ's  divi- 
•lity,  or  that  our  belief  in  this  single  article  without  other  con-' 


liiij 


'Ms,  will  ejisiire  eternal  life. 


73 


Letter  XIL 


Having  quoted  these  texts,  which  appear  to  me  inconclusive, 
the  bishop  adds,  by  way  of  proving  that  Scripture  is  sufficjentlv 
intelligible,  "Surely  the  apostles  were  not  worse  writers,  with 
divine  assistance,  than  others  commonly  are  without  it/'* 

I  will  not  here  repeat  the  arguments  and  testimonies  already 
hroughtf  to  show  the  great  obscurity  of  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  Bible,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  bulk  of  mankind, 
l)«;cause  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  clear  words  of  St.  Ptttr, 
declaring  that  there  are  in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  some  thinjrs 
hard  to  be  understood^  which  'he  unlearned  and  unstable  ivrest, 
as  they  do  all  the  other  .Scriptures^  tirito  their  otvn  destruction^ 
(2  Peter  iii.  16,)  and  to  the  instances,  which  occur  in  the  (ios- 
pels,  of  the  very  apostles  frequently  misunderstanding  the  mean- 
ing of  their  divine  Master. 

The  learned  prelate  says,  elsewhere,:|:  "The  New  Testament 
supposes  them  (the  generality  of  the  people)  capable  of  judg- 
ing for  themselves,  and  accordingly  lequires  them  not  only  to 
try  the  spirits  whether  they  be  ofGod^  1  John  i\'.  1,  but  to  prove 
all  things  and  holdfast  that  which  is  ;^"?od,  1  Thess.  v.  21." 

Answer.  True :  St.  John  tells  the  (Christians,  to  whom  he 
writes  to  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of  God^  because^  he 
adds,  many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world.  But  then 
he  gives  them  two  rules  for  making  trial :  Hereby  ye  know  the 
spirit  of  God,  Every  spirit  that  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  come  in  the  fleshy  is  of  God.  And  every  spirit  that  cotfesseth 
not  that  Jesus  is  come  in  the  fleshy  (which  was  denied  by  the 
heretics  of  that  time,  the  disciples  of  Simon  and  Cerinthus)  is 
not  of  God,  In  this,  the  apostle  tells  the  Christians  to  sei;  wheth- 
er the  doctrine  of  these  spirits  was  or  was  not  conformable  to 
that  which  they  had  learnt  from  the  church.  The  second  rule 
was.  Ha  that  knoweth  God^  heareth  us;  he  that  is  not  of  Ood^ 
heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spi- 
rit of  error:  namely,  he  bid  them  oljserve  whether  these  teach- 
ers did  or  did  not  listen  to  the  divinely-constituted  pastors  of 
the  church.  Dr.  P.  is  evidently  here  quoting  Scripture  for 
our  rule,  not  against  it.  The  same  is  to  be  said  of  the  other 
text.  Prophesy  was  exceedingly  common  at  the  beginning  of 
the  church ;  but,  as  we  have  just  seen,  the/e  were  false  pro- 
phets as  well  as  true  prophets :  hence,  while  the  apostle  defends 
this  supernatural  gift  in  general.  Despise  not  prophesyinifs^  he 
admonishes  the  Thessalonians  to  prove  them:  not  certainly  bv 
their  private  opinions,  which  would  be  the  source  of  endless 
discord;  l>ut,  by  the  established  rules  of  the  church,  and  parti- 
cularly by  that  which  he  tells  them  to  /lo/d  fi.st^  2  Thess.  li.  15, 
pumeh ,  traditi(m. 


I'.  4. 


t  l.iUcr  ii. 


t  P.  19 


^"<->Jh« 


>  Letter  XIL 


79 


conclusive, 
sufficjentlv 
riters,  with 
t  it."* 
ies  already 
ble  portion 
if  mankind, 
St.  Ptttr, 
9ome  things 
tabic  tvre.st^ 
destruction^ 
in  the  Gos- 
g  the  mean- 
Testament 
le  of  judg- 
not  onl)-  to 
but  to  prove 

)  whom  he 
because^  he 
d.  But  then 
r  knotv  the 
esus  Chr'vit 
t  confesseth 
niecl  by  the 
irinthus)  is 
I  sec  wheth- 
formable  to 
jeconcl  rule 
lot  of  God, 
md  the  spi- 
hese  teach- 

pastors  of 
ripture  for 
f  the  other 
eginning  of 

false  pro- 
stle  defends 
Tsyini(s^  he 
certainly  bv 
I  of  endless 
I,  and  parti - 
hcss,  ii.  15, 


Dr.  P.  in  another  place,*  urges  the  exhortation  of  St.  Paul 
to  Timothy,*Continiie  "hou  in  the  things  which  thou  hast  learn- 
ed and  hast  been  assured  of,  knowing  of  whom  thou  hast  learn- 
ed thern  :  and  that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation,  through 
faith  in  Christ  Jesus,.  All  Scrip,  ire  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
(Jod, .  nd  i'  pronta'vie  for  doctniie,  for  reproof,'&c.  2  Tim.  iii. 

Answe-  Dees,  then,  the  prelate  mean  to  say,  that  the 
(orm  ofs^^wid  words  which  Timothy  had  heard  from  St.  Paul, 
and  which  he  was  commanded  to  holdfast,  2  Tim.  i.  13,  was 
all  contained  m  the  Old  Testament,  the  only  Scripture  which 
he  could  have  read  in  his  childhood?  Or  that,  hi  this  he  could 
have  learn.,  d  the  mysteries  of  the  Trinity  and  the  incarnation, 
or  the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Eucharist  ?  The  firs'. 
part  of  the  question  is  a  general  commer  -'.atiou  of  tradition, 
the  latter  of  Scripture. 

Against  tradition,  Dr.  P.  and  yourself  quotef  Mark  vii, 
where  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes  asked  Christ,  Why  -walk  not 
thy  disciples  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  but  eat 
bread  with  vnwashed  hands  ?  He  answered  and  said  to  them^ 
In  vain  do  they  worship  w^,  teaching  FOR\  doctrines  the  com- 
inandments  of  men,  tor.,  loifi^g  aside  the  commandments  of 
God,  ye  hold  the  tradition  of  men,  as  the  washing  of  pots  and 
cups,  ^c. 

Answer.  Among  the  traditions  which  prevailed  at  the  time 
of  our  Saviour,  some  were  divine,  such  as  the  inspiration  of 
the  books  of  Moses  and  the  other  prophets,  the  resurrt  ction  ot 
the  body,  and  the  last  judgment,  which  assuredly  Christ  did 
not  condemn,  but  confirm.  There  were  others ,  merely  human, 
and  of  a  recent  date,  introduced,  as  St.  Jerome  informs  us,  by 
Sammai,  Killel,  Achiba,  and  other  Pharisees,  from  which  the 
Talmud  is  chiefly  gathered.  These,  of  course,  were  never 
obligatory.  In  like  manner,  there  are  among  CathoU  ,u  divine 
traditions,  such  as  the  inspiration  of  the  Gospels,  the  divine, 
observation  of  the  Lord's  day,  the  lawfulness  cf  invoking  the 
prayers  of  the  saints,  and  other  things  not  c'f^arly  contained 
in  Scripture  ;  and  there  are  among  many  Catholics,  historical 
and  even  fabulous  traditions.^   Now,  it  is  the  former,  as  avow- 

•P.  69.  fP-ll- 

*  This  particle  FOR,  which  m  some  degree  affects  the  sense,  is  a  corrupt 
interpolation  as  appears  from  the  orig'inal  Greek. 

N.  B.  The  texts  which  Dr.  i*.  refers  to  I  quote  fron;  the  common  Bible  j 
Iris  citations,  of  it  are  frequently  inaccurate. 

^  Such  are  the  acts  of  several  saints  condemned  by  Pope  Gelasius  5  such  al- 
so was  the  opinion  of  Christ's  reign  upoa  earth  frr  -i  x^c  ?nnd  yeanb. 


^1 
vt 


opmion 
10* 


19 


«0 


Letter  XIL 


ss 


f 


m 


ed  to  be  divine  by  the  church,  that  we  appeal :  of  the  others, 
every  one  may  judge  as  he  thinks  best. 

You  both,  like^  se,  quote  Coloss.  ii.  8.  Bervare  lest  any 
man  spoil  (cheat)  ,  ju  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit^  after 
the  tradition  of  men^  after  the  rudiments  of  the  xmrU^  and  not 
after  Christy 

Answer.  The  apostle  himself  informs  the  CoUossians  what 
kind  of  traditions  he  here  speaks  of,  where  he  says,  Let  no 
man  therefore  Judge  you  in  meat  or  drink^  or  in  respect  of  any 
holiday^  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  days.  The  an- 
cient  fathers  and  ecclesiastical  historians  inform  us,  that,  in  the 
age  of  the  apostles,  many  Jews  and  Pagan  philosophers  pro- 
fessed Christianity,  but  endeavoured  to  allay  with  it  their  res« 
pective  superstitions  and  v^in  speculations,  absolutely  inconsis- 
tent with  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  against  these  St. 
Paul  wrote,  not  against  those  traditions  which  he  commanded 
his  converts  to  holdfast  to,  whether  they  had  been  taught  by 
word  or  by  Epistle,  2  Thess.  ii.  15 ;  nor  those  traditions 
which  he  commended  his  other  converts /or  keeping,  1  Cor,  xi. 
3.*  Finally,  the  apostles,  in  that  passage,  did  not  abrogate  this 
his  awful  sentence,  now  we  command  you,  brethren,  in  the  nant 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from 
every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the  tradi' 
tion  which  ha  ;  /;  sived  of  us,  2  Thess.  iii.  6. 

Against  'ln'-;  ir;fallibiUty  of  the  church  in  deciding  questions 
of  filth,  f  asri  referred  to  various  other  arguments  made  use  ol 
by  Dr.  Poittus  ;  and,  in  the  first  place,  the  following :  "  Ro- 
manists  themselves  own  that  men  must  use  their  eyes,  to  find 
this  guide  ;  why  then  must  they  put  them  out,  to  follow 
him  ?"f  I  answer  by  the  following  comparisons.  Every  pru- 
dent man  makes  use  of  his  reason,  to  find  out  an  able  physi- 
cian to  take  care  of  his  health,  and  an  able  lawyer  to  secure  his 
property :  but  having  found  these,  to  his  full  satisfaction,  does 
he  dispute  with  the  former  about  the  quality  of  medicines,  oi 
with  the  latter  about  lorms  ui'  Jaw  ?  Thuii  the  Catholic  makes  use 
of  his  reason,  to  observe  which,  among  the  rival  communions, 
is  tho  church  that  Christ  established  and  promised  to  remain 
with  ;  having  ascertained  that,  by  the  plain  acknowledged 
marks  which  this  church  bears,  he  trusts  his  soul  to  her  uner 
Vine  judgment,  in  piefepenoe  to  his  own  fluctuating  opinion. 

Dr.  PortBOs  r'Uls,  "  Ninety-nine  parts  in  every  hundred 
of  their  (the  Catholic)  communion,  have  no  other  rule  to  follow, 
but  what  a  few  priests  and  private  writers  tell  them."t    Ac 

•  The  FngUsh  Tesvameiit  puts  tlie  word  ordinance  here  for  tradltioni,  con« 
fifty  to  the  sense  of  the  oripn.il  Greek,  and  even  tiie  authority  of  Bez» 
t  P.  19  I  Hid. 


true 


the  others, 

re  lest  any 

deceit^  after 

kf^  and  not 

issians  what 
ays,  Let  no 
^pect  of  any 
\s*    The  an- 
|,  that,  in  the 
lophers  pro- 
it  their  res. 
lely  inconsis- 
inst  these  St. 
commanded 
n  taught  by 
se  traditioni) 
g',  1  Cor.  xi. 
abrogate  this 
t,  in  the  nam: 
rselves  from 
er  the  tradi- 
ng questions 
made  use  oi 
rtring :  "  Ro- 
eyes,  to  find 
t,  to  follow 
Every  pru- 
i  able  physi- 
to  secure  his 
faction,  does 
ledicines,  ot 
ic  makes  use 
omm  unions, 
1  to  remain 
knowledged 
to  her  uner 
;  opinion. 
ry  hundred 
e  to  follow, 
)m."t    Ac 


lllHL 


rs  up  to  the 

arant  in 
of  them,) 


radttimu,  con> 
r  of  Bez» 


Letter  XII. 


ording  to  this  mode  of  reasoning,  a  loyal  subject  does  not 
make  any  act  of  the  legislature  the  rule  of  his  civil  conduct, 
because,  perhaps,  he  learns  it  only  from  a  printed  paper,  or  the 
proclamation  of  tlie  bell-i.an.  Most  likely  the  Catholic  peasant 
learns  the  doctrine  of  the  church  from  his  parish  priest ;  but 
then  he  knows  that  the  doctrine  of  this  priest  must  be  conforma- 
ble to  that  of  his  bishop,  and  that  otherwise  he  will  soon  be 
called  to  an  account  for  it.  He  knows  also  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  bishop  himself  must  be  conformable  to  that  of  the  other 
bishops  and  the  Pope,  and  that  it  is  a  fundamental  maxim  with 
tiiem  all,  never  to  admit  of  any  tenet  but  sucl  believed  by 

all  the  bishops,  and  was  believed  by  their  pr( 
apostles  themselves. 

The  prelate  gives  a  "rule  for  the  unlearn 
religion,  (that  is  to  say  of  ninety-nine  in  every  liui 
which  is  this  :  Let  each  man  improve  his  own  judgment,  and 
increase  his  own  knowledge  as  much  as  he  can  ;  and  be  fully 
assured  that  God  will  expect  no  more." — What  f  If  Christ  has 
given  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some  evangelists 
and  tome  pastors  and  teachers  ;  for  the  perfecting  the  saints,  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  Ephes.  iv.  11,  does  he  not  expect  that 
Christians  should  hearken  to  them,  and  obey  thtm  ?  The 
prelate  goes  on  ;  "In  matters,  for  which  he  must  rely  on  aU" 
thority,"  (mere  Scripture  then,  and  private  judgment,  accord- 
ing to  the  bishop  himself,  are  not  f^lways  a  sufficient  rule,  even 
for  Protestants,  but  they  must  in  some  matters  rely  on  church 
authority,)  "  let  him  rely  on  the  authority  of  that  church  which 
God's  providence  has  placed  him  under,"  (that  is  to  say,  whe- 
ther Catholic,  Protestant,  Socinian,  Antinomian,  Jewish,  he.) 
"  rather  than  another  which  he  hath  nothing  to  do  with,"  (every 
Christian  has,  or  ought  to  have,  something  to  do  with  Christ's 
true  church,)  and  "  trust  to  those,  who,  by  encouraging  free 
inquiry,  appear  to  love  truth  ;  rather  than  such  as,  by  requiring 
all  their  doctrines  to  be  implicitly  obeyed,  seem  conscious  that 
they  will  not  bear  to  be  fairly  tried."  What,  my  lord,  would 
you  have  me  trust  those  men,  who  have  just  now  deceived  me, 
by  assuring  me  that  I  should  not  stand  in  need  of  guides  at  all, 
rather  than  those  who  told  me,  from  the  first,  of  the  perplexities 
in  which  I  find  myself  entangled  !  Again,  do  you  advise  me  to 
prefer  these  conductors,  who  are  forced  to  confess  that  they 
may  mislead  me,  to  those  others  who  assure  me,  and  this  upon 
such  strong  grounds,  that  tliey  will  conduct  roe  with  perfect 
safety ! 


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Utter  XIL 


'  Our  Episcopal  controvertist  finishes  his  admonition  "  to  the 
ignorant  and  unlearned,"  with  an  address,  calculated  for  the 
stupid  and  bigoted.  He  says,  "  Let  others  build  on  fathen 
and  Popes,  on  traditions  and  councils,  what  they  will :  let  iu« 
continue  firm,  as  we  are,  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  ani 

Srophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  comer-stone.'' 
<pAe«.  ii.  What  empty  declamation !  Do  then  the  fathers, 
Popes,  and  councils,  profess  or  attempt  to  build  religion  on  an^i 
other  foundation  than  the  revelation  made  by  God  to  the  apos- 
tles and  prophets  ?  His  lordship  knows  full  well  that  they  do 
not,  and  that  the  only  questions  at  issue  are  these  three :  First, 
Whether  this  revelation  has  not  been  made  and  conveyed  by  the 
unwritten  as  well  as  by  the  written  Word  of  God  i*  Secondly, 
Whether  Christ  did  not  commit  this  Word  to  his  apostles  and 
their  successors,  till  the  end  of  the  world,  for  them  to  preserve 
and  announce  it  ?  Lastly,  Whether,  independently  of  this  com- 
mission, it  is  consistent  with  common  sense,  for  each  Protestant 
ploughman  and  mechanic  to  persuade  himself  that  he,  indivi- 
dually, (for  he  cannot,  according  to  his  rule,  build  on  the  opi- 
nion of  other  Protestants,  though  he  could  find  any  whose  faith 
exactly  tallied  with  his  own,)  that  he,  I  say,  individually,  under- 
stands the  Scriptures  better  than  all  the  doctors  and  bishops  of 
the  church,  who  now  ^re,  or  ever  have  been  since  the  time  of 
the  apostles  !* 

One  of  your  Salopian  friends,  in  writing  to  me,  ridicules  the 
idea  of  infallibility  being  lodged  in  any  mortal  man,  or  number 
of  men.  Hence,  it  is  fair  to  conclude,  that  he  does  not  look 
upon  himself  to  be  infallible  :  now  nothing  short  of  a  man's 
conviction  of  his  own  infallibility,  one  might  think,  would  put 
him  on  preferring  his  own  judgment,  in  matters  of  religion,  to 
that  of  the  church  of  all  ages  and  all  nations.  Secondly,  if 
this  objection  were  valid,  it  would  prove  that  the  apostles  them- 
selves were  not  infallible.  Finally,  1  could  wish  your  friend  to 
form  a  right  idea  of  this  matter.  The  infallibility,  then,  of  our 
church,  is  not  a  power  of  telling  all  things  past,  present,  and  to 
come,  such  as  the  Pagans  ascribed  to  their  oracles  ;  but  merely 
the  aid  of  God's  holy  spirit,  to  enable  her  truly  to  decide  what 
her  faith  is,  and  ever  has  been,  in  such  articles  as  have  been 
made  known  to  her  by  Scripture  and  tradition.     This  definition 


(■ 


Ell 


*  •  "n**  great  B(y«»uet  obliged  the  minister,  Claude,  in  his  conference  with  him, 
openly  to  avow  thi»  principle ;  which,  in  fact,  every  consifitenl  Protestant  must 
avow,  who  maiiituins  his  private  interpretation  of  the  Bible  to  be  the  only  rul« 
Ukialiuih. 


Letter  XII. 


m 


ion  "to the 

ated  for  the 

I  on  fathen 

will:  let  UK 

apostles  ani 

►rner-stone.'* 

the  fathers, 

gion  on  any 

to  the  apos- 

that  they  do 

hree:  First, 

i^eyed  by  the 

?  Secondly, 

apostles  and 

to  preserve 

of  this  com- 

1  Protestant 

:  he,  indivi- 

on  the  opi- 

whose  faith 

lally,  under- 

d  bishops  of 

the  time  of 

ridicules  the 
,  or  number 
es  not  look 
of  a  man's 
,  would  put 
religion,  to 
Secondly,  if 
)stles  them- 
iir  friend  to 
lien,  of  our 
ent,  and  to 
but  merely 
ecide  what 
have  been 
8  definition 


iceivithhim, 
iteitant  ramt 
thfl  only  rule 


furnishes  answers  to  diverse  other  objections  and  questions  of 
Dr.  P.     The  church  does  not  decide  the  controversy  concern- 
ing the  conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  several  other  dis- 
puted points,  because  she  sees   nothing  absolutely  clear  and 
certain  concerning  them,  either  in  the  written  or  the  unwritten. 
Word ;  and  therefore  leaves  her  children  to  form  their  own 
opinions  concerning  them.     She  does  not  dictate  an  exposition 
of  the  whole  Bible,  because  she  has  no  tradition  concerning  a 
very  great  proportion  of  it,  as  for  example,  concerning  the  prO' 
pheey  of  Enochs  quoted  by  Jude,  14,  and  the  baptism  for  the 
dead,  of  which  St.  Paul  makes  mention,  1  Cor.  xv.  29,  and  the 
chronologies  and  genealogies  in  Genesis.     The  prelate  urges 
that  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  where  he  declares  that.  The  church 
of  God  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth,  1  Tim.  iii.  15,  may  be 
translated  a  diflerent  way  from  that  received. — ^True  :  they  may, 
but  not  without  altering  the  original  Greek,  as  also  the  common 
Protestant  version.     He  says,  it  was  ordained  in  the  Old  Law 
that  every  controversy  should  be  decided  by  the  priests  and 
Levites,  Devt.  xvii.  8,  and  yet  thrt  these  avowedly  erred  in  re- 
jecting Christ. — ^True :  but  the  Law  had  then  run  its  destined 
course,  and  the  divine  assistance  failed  the  priests  in  the  very  act 
of  their  rejecting  the  promised  Messiah,  who  was  then  before 
them.     He  adds,  that  St.  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  church  of 
Rome  bids  her  not  be  high  minded,  but  fear;  for  (he  adds)  if 
God  spared  not  the  Jews,  take  heed  lest  he  also  spare  not  thecy 
Rom.  xi. — Supposhig  tlie  quotation  to  be  accurate,  and  that  the 
threat  is  particularly  addressed  to  the   Christians  of  Rome ; 
what  is  that  to  the  present  purpose  ?  We  never  supposed  the  pro- 
mises of  Christ  to  belong  to  them  or  their  successors  more  than 
to  the  inhabitants  of  any  other  city.     Indeed  It  Is  the  opinion 
of  some  of  our  most  learned  commentators,  that  before  the  end 
of  the  world,  Rome  will  reiaps'-  into  its  former  Paganism.*'     In 
a  word,  the  promises  of  our  Saviour,  that  helVs  gates  shall  not 
prevail  against  his  church — that  his  Holy  Spirit  shall  lead  it  in- 
to all  truth — and  that  he  himself  will  remain  with  it  for  every 
were  made  to  the  church  of  all  nations,  and  all  times,  In  com- 
munion with  St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  the  bishops  of  Rome : 
and  as  these  promises  have  been  fulfilled,  during  a  succes- 
sion of  eighteen  centuries,  contrary  to  the  usual  and  natural 
course  of  events,  and  by  tlie  visible  protection  of  the  Almighty, 
M)  we  rest  assured  that  he  will  continue  to  fulfil  them,  till  the 

'"'       '  ''        *  See  Cornel,  a  Lapiil.  in  Apocalyp.  , 


A\ 


64 


Letter  XIL 


•  StAuit 


church  militant  shall  be  wholly  transformed  into  tlie  churcl  •       «  j^ 
triumphant  in  the  heavenly  kingdom. -**»'  n-vmui  'm^      ,*>       >nliffhten€ 

Finally,  his  lordship,  with  other  controvertists,  objects  agsunst  -.«  gQul 
the  infallibility  of  the  Catholic  church,  that  its  advocates  are  not  Jljgut  ^m 
agreed  where  to  lodge  this  prerogative;  some  ascribing  it  to 
the  Pope,  others  to  a  general  council,  or  to  the  bishops  dispersed 
throughout  the  church.  True,  schoolmen  discuss  some  such 
points :  but  let  me  ask  his  lordship,  whether  he  finds  any  Ca- 
tholic who  denies  or  doubts  that  a  general  council,  with  the 
Pope  at  its  head,  or  that  the  Pope  himself,  issuing  a  doctrinal 
decision,  which  is  received  by  the  great  body  of  Catholic 
bishops,  is  secure  from  error  ?  Most  certainly  not :  and  hence 
he  may  gather  where  all  Catholics  agree  in  lodging  infallibili- 
ty. In  like  manner,  with  respect  to  our  national  constitution; 
some  lawyers  hold  that  a  royal  proclamation,  in  such  and  such 
circumstances,  has  the  force  of  a  law,  others  that  a  vote  of  the 
house  of  lords,  or  of  the  commons,  or  of  both  houses  together, 
has  the  same  strength ;  but  all  subjects  acknowledge  that  an 
act  of  the  king,  lords,  and  commons,  is  binding  upon  them ; 
and  this  suffices  for  all  practical  purposes. 

But  when,  dear  sir,  will  there  be  an  end  of  the  objections  and 
cavils  of  men,  whose  pride,  ambition,  or  interest,  leads  them  to 
deny  the  plainest  truths !  You  have  seen  those  which  the  inge- 
nuity and  learning  of  the  Porteus's,  Seekers,  and  Tillotsons 
have  raised  against  the  unchangeable  Catholic  rule  and  inter- 
preter of  faith :  say,  is  there  any  thing  sufficiently  clear  and 
certain  in  them  to  or'^'^se  to  the  luminous  and  sure  principles, 
on  which  the  Cathoi  ethod  is  placed  ?  Do  they  afford  you 
a  sure  footing,  to  su^.port  you  against  all  doubts  and  fears  on 
the  score  of  your  religion,  especially  under  the  apprehension  of 
approaching  dissolution  ?  If  you  answer  affirmatively,  I  have 
nothing  more  to  say ;  but  if  you  cannot  so  answer,  and,  if  you 
justly  dread  undertaking  your  voyage  to  eternity  on  the  pre- 
sumption of  your  private  judgment,  a  presumption  which  you 
have  clearly  seen  has  led  so  many  other  rash  Christians  to  cer- 
tain shipwreck,  follow  the  example  of  those  who  have  happily 
arrived  at  the  port  which  you  are  in  quest  of:  in  other  words, 
listen  to  the  advice  of  the  holy  patriarch  to  his  son :  Then 
Tobias  answered  his  father — I  know  not  the  way^  8fc.  :—-then  his 
father  said — Seek  thee  a  faithful  guide.  Tob.  v.  You  will  no 
sooner  have  sacrificed  your  own  wavering  judgment,  and  have 
submitted  to  follow  the  guide,  whom  your  heavenly  Father  has 
provided  for  you,  than  you  will  feel  a  deep  conviction  that  you 
are  in  the  right  and  secure  way ;  and  very  soon  you  will  be 


■Mil. 


V 


bjects  against 
Dcates  are  not 
cribing  it  to 
ops  dispersed 
s  some  such 
inds  any  Ca- 
iciJ,  with  tlie 
g  a  doctrinal 
of  Catholic 
:  and  hence 
ig  infallibili- 
constitution; 
ch  and  such 
L  vote  of  the 
ses  together, 
edge  that  an 
upon  them  j 

jections  and 
ads  them  to 
ch  the  inge- 
d  Tillotsons 
i  and  inter- 
y  clear  and 
J  principles, 
'  afford  you 
nd  fears  on 
ehension  of 
ely,  I  have 
and,  if  you 
)n  the  pre- 
which  you 
ans  to  cer- 
ve  happily 
ber  words, 
ion:  Then 
r — then  his 
ou  will  no 
and  have 
''ather  has 
1  that  you 
>u  will  be 


Letter  XH. 


85 


o  the  ch      li  ^^^^^^  to  join  with  the  happy  cohVerts  of  ancient  and  modem 
J       ,  J       times,*  in  this  hymn  of  praise  :  "  I  give  thee  thanks  O  God,  my 
enlightener  and  deliverer;  for  that  thou  hast  opened  the  eyes  of 
my  soul  to  know  thee.     Alas  !  too  late  have  I  known  thee,  O 
incient  and  eternal  truth  !  too  late  have  I  known  thee.*' 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  yours,  &:c. 

J.  M. 


*  8t.  Auatin*!  SoliUxiuiest  c.  33,  quoted  hj  Dean  Craaqr?  ExomoL  p.  C6& 

,  r  '  • 

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THE  END 


m 


i 


RELIGIOUS  CONTROVERSY. 


•>» 


. .;  ./> 


PART  II. 


LETTER  XIII. 
To  JAMES  BROWJV,  Esq.  SfC. 

OJ^  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

Dear  Sir, 
The  Letters  which  I  have  received  from  you,  and  some  others 
of  your  religious  society,  satisfy  me  that  I  have  not  ahogether 
lost  my  labour  in  endeavouring  to  prove  to  you,  that  the  private 
interpretation  of  holy  Scripture  is  not  a  more  certain  rule  of  faith, 
than  an  imaginary  private  inspiration  is ;  and,  in  short,  that  the 
church  of  Christ  is  the  only  sure  expounder  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ.  Thus  much  you,  sir,  in  particular,  candidly  acknow- 
ledge: but  you  ask  me,  on  the  part  of  some  of  your  friends  as 
well  as  yourself,  why,  in  case  you  "  must  rely  on  authority,"  as 
bishop  Porteus  confesses  "  the  unlearned  must,"  that  is  to  say, 
the  great  bulk  of  mankind,  you  should  not,  as  he  advises  you, 
"  rely  on  the  authority  of  that  church,  which  God's  providence 
hath  placed  you  under,  rather  than  that  of  another  which  you 
have  nothing  to  do  with,"*  and  why  you  may  not  trust  to  the 
church  of  England,  in  particular,  to  guide  you  in  your  road  to 
heaven,  with  equal  security  as  to  the  church  of  Rome  ? — Before 
I  answer  you,  permit  me  to  congratulate  with  you  on  your  ad- 
vance towards  the  clear  sight  of  the  whole  truth  of  revelation. 
As  long  as  you  professed  to  hunt  out  the  several  articles  of  this, 
one  by  one,  through  the  several  books  of  Scripture,  and  under 
all  the  difficulties  and  uncertainties  which  I  have  clearly  shown 
to  attend  this  study,  your  task  was  interminable,  and  your  suc- 
cess hopeless  :  whereas,  now,  by  taking  the  church  of  God  for 

*  Coafutatiou  of  Errors  of  Popery,  p.  20. 


'    i        .-'ri)   ; 


'     1  • 


Z6ner  IGIT. 


m 


some  others 
)t  altogether 
t  tlie  private 
rule  of  faith, 
»ort,  that  the 
J  doctrine  of 
lly  acknow- 
ir  friends  as 
thority,"  as 
It  is  to  say, 
idvises  you, 
providence 
which  you 
trust  to  the 
our  road  to 
3  i — Before 
•n  your  ad- 
revelation, 
cles  of  this, 
and  under 
arly  shown 
your  suc- 
of  God  for 


your  guide,  you  have  but  one  simple  inquiry  to  make :  Whtch 
is  this  church  9  a  question  that  admits  of  being  solved  by  men 
of  good  will  with  equal  certainty  and  facility.  I  say,  there  is 
but  one  inquiry  to  be  made :  Which  is  the  true  church  9  because 
if  there  is  any  one  religious  truth  more  evident  than  the  rest 
from  reason,  from  the  Scriptures,  both  Old*  and  New,f  from 
the  apostles'  creed,|  and  from  constant  tradition,  it  is  this,  that 
*  the  Catholic  church  preserves  the  true  worship  of  the  Deity ; 
she  being  the  fountain  of  truth,  the  house  of  faith,  and  the  tem- 
ple of  God,"  as  an  ancient  father  of  the  church  expresses  it.<§ 
Hence  it  is  as  clear  as  the  noon-day  light,  that  by  solving  this 
one  question,  Which  is  the  true  church  ?  you  will  at  once  solve 
every  question  of  reli^ous  controversy  that  ever  has,  or  that 
ever  can  be  agitated.  You  will  not  need  to  spend  your  life  in 
studying  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  their  original  languages,  and 
their  authentic  copies,  and  in  confronting  passages  with  each 
other,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  a  task  by  no  means  calcu- 
lated, as  is  evident,  for  the  bulk  of  mankind  :  you  will  only 
have  to  hear  what  the  church  teaches  upon  the  several  articles 
of  her  faith,  in  order  to  know  with  certainty  what  God  revealed 
concerning  them.  Neither  need  you  hearken  to  contending 
sects,  and  doctors  of  the  present,  or  of  past  times  :  you  will  need 
only  to  hear  the  church,  which,  indeed,  Christ  commands  you 
to  hear  under  pain  of  being  treated  as  a  heathen  or  a  publican. 
Matt,  xviii.  17. 

I  now  proceed,  dear  sir,  to  your  question ;  why,  admitting 
ike  necessity  of  being  guided  by  the  church,  may  not  you  and  your 
friends  submit  to  be  guided  by  the  church  of  England,  or  any 
other  Protestant  church  to  which  you  respectively  belong  9 — My 
answer  is ;  because  no  such  church  professes,  nor,  consistently 
with  the  fundamental  Protestant  rule  of  private  judgment,  can 
profess  to  be  a  guide  in  matters  of  religion.     If  you  admit,  but 

•  Speaking  of  the  future  church  of  the  Gentiles,  the  Almighty  promises,  by 
Isaiah  :  Sing,  O  barren,  thou  that  didtt  not  bear^  &c. :  as  I  hare  sworn  that  the 
waters  of  J^oah  should  no  more  go  over  the  earth,  so  I  have  sworn  that  I  would  not 
be  wroth  with  thee,  nor  rebuke  thee.  For  the  mountains  shall  depart  and  the  hills 
be  removed^  but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee,  &c.  lir.  See  also  lix.  Ix. 
Ixiii.  Jerem.  xxxiii.  Ezech.  xxxvii.  Dan.  ii.  Psalm  Ixxxix. 

t  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  Matt.  X/i.  IB.  lam  with  you  all  days  even  until  THE  END  OF 
THE  WORLD.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  /  tvill  pray  the  Father  and  he  will  give  you 
another  comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  FOR  EVER,  even  tlie  Spirit  of 
Truth-^he  will  tearh  yon  MAj  'I"  RUT  1 1,  John  xiv.  16.  &c.  The  House  ofOod, 
tphirhisthe  Church' of  the  living  God,  THE  PILLAR  AND  GROUND  OF 
TRUTH.     1  Tim.  iii.  14. 

t  I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.    Art.  ix, 

I  Lactan,  I)u  Divin.  lastit.  1. 4. 
11 


•-! 


86 


tktter  Xm. 


for  an  instant,  church  authority,  then  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Cran< 
mer,  with  all  the  other  founders  of  Protestantism,  were  evidently 
heretics,  by  rebelling  against  it.  In  short,  no  other  church 
but  the  Catholic  can  claim  to  be  a  religious  guide,  because  evi- 
dently she  alone  is  the  true  church  of  Christ.  This  assertion 
leads  me  to  the  proof  of  what  I  asserted  above,  respecting  the 
facility  and  certainty  with  which  persons  of  good  will  may 
solve  diat  most  important  question :  Which  is  the  true  church  ? 

Luther,^  Calvin.f  the  church  of  £ngland,|  assign  as  the 
characteristics,  or  marks  of  the  true  church  of  Christ,  Truth  of 
doctrine,  and  the  right  administration  of  the  sacraments.  But 
to  follow  this  method  of  finding  out  the  true  church,  would  be 
to  throw  ourselves  back  into  those  endless  controversies  con- 
cerning the  true  doctrine,  and  the  right  discipline,  which  it  is 
my  present  object  to  put  an  end  to,  by  demonstrating,  at  once, 
which  is  the  true  church.  To  show  the  inconsistency  of  the 
Protestant  method,  let  us  suppose  that  some  stranger  were  to 
inquire,  at  the  levee  of  his  neighbour,  which  of  the  personages 
present  is  the  Prince  Regent  ?  and  that  he  was  to  receive  for 
answer,  it  is  the  king^s  eldest  son :  would  this  answer,  however 
true,  be  of  any  use  to  the  inquirer  ?  Evidently  not.  Whereas, 
if  he  were  told  that  the  prince  wore  such  and  such  clothes  and 
ornaments,  and  was  seated  in  such  and  such  a  place,  these  ex- 
terior marks  would,  at  once,  put  him  in  possession  of  the  in- 
formation he  was  in  search  of.  Thus  we  Catholics,  when  we 
are  asked,  which  are  the  marks  of  the  true  church  ?  point  out 
certain  exterior,  visible  marks,  such  as  plain,  unlearned  persons 
can  discover,  if  they  will  take  ordinary  pains  for  this  purpose, 
no  less  than  persons  of  the  greatest  abilities  and  literature,  at 
the  same  time  that  they  are  the  very  marks  of  this  church, 
which,  as  I  said  above,  natural  reason,  the  Scriptures,  the  creeds, 
and  the  fathers,  assign  and  demonstrate  to  be  the  true  marks  of 
It.  Yes,  my  dear  sir,  these  marks  of  the  true  church  are  so 
plain  in  themselves,  and  so  evidently  point  it  out,  thatybo/5  can- 
not err,  as  the  prophet  foretold,  Isai.  xxxv.  8,  in  their  road  to  it. 
They  are  the  flaming  beacons,  which  for  ever  shine  on  the  moun- 
tain  at  the  top  of  the  mountains  of  the  Lord's  house.  Isai.  ii.  2. 
In  short,  the  particular  motives  for  credibility,  which  point  out 
the  true  church  of  Christ,  demonstrate  this  with  no  less  certitude 
and  evidence,  than  the  general  motives  of  credibility  demon- 
strate the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion. 

The  chief  marks  of  the  true  church,  which  I  shall  here  assign, 


•  De  Concil.  Ecclcs. 


t  Inslit.  1.41. 


X  Art.  19. 


Letter  XIII. 


are  not  only  conformable  to  reason,  Scripture,  and  tradition^ 
but,  which  is  a  most  fortunate  circumstance,  they  are  such  as 
the  church  of  England,  and  most  other  respectable  denomina- 
tions of  Protestants,  acknowledge  and  profess  to  believe  in,  no 
less  than  Catholics.  Yes,  dear  sir,  they  are  contained  in  those 
Creeds  which  you  recite  in  your  daily  prayers,  and  proclaim  in 
your  solemn  worship.  In  fact,  what  do  you  say  of  the  church 
you  believe  in,  when  you  repeat  the  Apostles'  Creed  ?  You 
say,  I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 
Again,  how  is  this  church  more  particularly  described  in  che 
Nicene  Creed,  which  makes  part  of  your  public  liturgy  f  In 
this  you  say,  I  BELIEVE  IN  ONE  CATHOUC  AND 
APOSTOLIC  CHURCH.*  Hence  it  evidently  follows  that 
the  church  which  you,  no  less  than  we,  profess  to  believe  in,  is 
possessed  of  these  four  marks :  UNITY,  SANCTITY,  CA- 
THOLICITY, and  APOSTOLICITY.  It  is  agreed  upon, 
then,  that  all  we  have  to  do,  by  way  of  discovering  the  true 
church,  is  to  find  out  which  of  the  rival  churches,  or  communions, 
is  peculiarly  ONE— HOLY— CATHOLIC— and  APOSTO- 
LIC. Thrice  happy,  dear  sir,  I  deem  it,  that  we  agree  toge- 
ther, by  the  terms  of  our  common  creeds,  in  a  matter  of  such 
infinite  importance  for  the  happy  termination  of  all  our  contro- 
versies, as  are  these  qualities,  or  characters  of  the  true  church, 
which  ever  that  may  be  found  to  be !  Still,  notwithstanding 
tills  agreement  in  our  creeds,  I  shall  not  omit  to  illustrate  these 
characters,  or  marks,  as  I  treat  of  them,  by  arguments  from  rea- 
son, Scripture,  and  the  ancient  fathers. 

lam,  dear  sir,  &c. 

J.  M. 


*  Order  of  Administration  of  the  Lord's  Sapper. 

M 


i£<i 


>^. 


90 


!  !  LETTER  XIV.  ,      * 

,       To  JAMES  BROWJ^,  Esq   fye. 

I  UMTY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Dear  Sir,  ' 

Nothing  is  more  clear  to  natural  reason,  than  that  God 
cannot  be  the  author  of  different  rehgions ;  for  being  the  Eter- 
nal Truth,  he  cannot  reveal  contradictory  doctrines,  and,  being 
at  the  same  time,  the  Eternal  Wisdom,  and  the  God  of  Peace, 
he  cannot  establish  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself.  Hence  it 
follows,  that  the  church  of  Christ  must  be  strictly  ONE;  one 
in  doctrine,  one  in  worship,  and  one  in  government.  This  mark 
of  unity  in  the  true  church,  which  is  so  clear  from  reason,  is  still 
more  clear  from  the  following  passages  of  Holy  Writ.  Our 
Saviour,  then,  speaking  of  himself,  in  the  character  of  the  good 
shepherd,  says,  I  have  other  sheep  (the  Gentiles)  which  are  Hot 
of  this  fold ;  them,  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my 
voice,  and  there  shall  be  ONE  FOLD,  and  one  shepherd,  John 
X.  16.  To  the  same  effect  addressing  his  heavenly  Father,  pre- 
viously to  his  passion,  he  says,  /  pray  for  all  that  shall  believe 
in  me,  ^Aa^  THEY  MAY  BE  ONE,  as  thou  Father,  art  in  me 
and  I  in  thee,  John  xvii.  20,  21.  In  like  manner  St.  Paul  em- 
phatically inculcates  the  unity  of  the  church,  where  he  writes, 
IVe,  being  many,  are  OJVE  BODY  in  Christ,  and  every  one 
members  one  of  another,  Rom.  xii.  5.  Again  he  writes.  There 
is  OJVJG  BODY  and  one  spirit,  as  you  are  called  in  one  hope  of 
your  calling;  one  Lord,  OJVjG  FAITH,  and  one  baptism. 
Ephes.  iv.  4,  5.  Conformably  to  this  doctrine,  respecting  the 
necessary  unity  of  the  church,  this  apostle  reckons  HERESIES 
among  the  sins  which  exclude /rowt  the  kingdom  of  God,  Gal.  v. 
20.  and  he  requires  that  a  man  who  is  a  heretic,  after  the  first 
and  second  admonition,  be  rejected.  Tit.  iii.  10. 

The  apostolical  fathers,  St.  Polycarp  and  St.  Ignatius,  in 
their  published  Epistles,  hold  precisely  the  same  language  on 
this  subject,  with  St.  Paul,  as  does  also  their  disciple  St.  Ire- 
nteus,  who  writes  thus,  "  No  reformation  can  be  so  advantage- 
ous as  the  evil  of  schism  is  pernicious."*  The  great  light  of 
die  third  century,  St.  Cyprian,  has  left  us  a  whole  book  on  tlie 

•De  Hicr.  1.  i.  c.  3. 


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an  that  God 
ing  the  Eter- 
is,  and,  being 
rod  of  Peace, 
If.     Hence  it 
y  ONE  J  one 
.    This  mark 
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which  are  riot 
hall  hear  my 
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'  Father,  pre- 
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St.  Paul  em- 
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Ignatius,  in 
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uttt/y  of  the  church,  in  v/hich,  among  other  similar  passages,  he 
writes  as  follows  :  "  There  is  but  one  God,  and  one  Christ,  and 
one  faith,  and  a  people  joined  in  one  solid  body  with  the  cement 
of  concord.  This  unity  cannot  suffer  a  division,  nor  this  one 
body  bear  to  be  disjointed. — He  cannot  have  God  for  his  father, 
who  has  not  the  church  for  his  mother.  If  any  one  could 
escape  the  deluge  out  of  Noah's  ark,  he  who  is  out  of  the 
church  may  also  escape.  To  abandon  the  church  is  a  crime, 
which  blood  cannot  wash  away.  Such  a  one  may  be  killed, 
but  he  cannot  be  crowned."*  In  the  fourth  century,  the  illus- 
trious St.  John  Chrysostom,  writes  thus  :  "  We  know  that  sal- 
vation belongs  to  the  church  alone,  and  that  no  one  can  partake 
of  Christ,  nor  be  saved  out  of  the  Catholic  church  and  faith."\ 
The  language  of  St.  Augustin,  in  the  fifth  century,  is  equally 
strong  on  this  subject,  in  numerous  passages.  Among 
others  the  Synodical  epistle  of  the  council  of  Zerta,  in  412, 
drawn  up  by  this  saint,  tells  the  Donatist  schismatics,  "  Who- 
ever  is  separated  from  this  Catholic  church,  however  innocently 
he  may  think  he  lives,  for  this  crime  alone,  that  he  is  separated 
from  the  unity  of  Christ,  will  not  have  life,  but  the  anger  of  God 
remains  upon  Aim."  J  Not  less  emphatical  to  the  same  effect,  is 
the  testimony  of  St.  Fulgentius  and  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  in 
the  sixth  century,  in  various  passages  of  their  writings ;  I  shal! 
content  myself  with  citing  one  of  them.  "  Out  of  this  church," 
says  the  former  father,  "  neither  the  name  of  Christian  avails, 
nor  does  baptism  save,  nor  is  a  clean  sacrifice  offered,  nor  is 
there  forgiveness  of  sins,  nor  is  the  happiness  of  eternal  life  to 
be  found."'§.  In  short,  such  has  been  the  language  of  the  fa- 
thers and  doctors  of  the  church  in  all  ages,  concerning  her  es- 
sential unity,  and  the  indispensable  obligation  of  being  united  to 
her.  Such  also  have  been  the  formal  declarations  of  the  church 
herself  in  those  decrees,  by  which  she  has  condenmed  and  ana- 

•  Cypr.  de  Unit.  Oxon,  p.  109. 

t  Horn.  t.  in  Pasc.  ^  Concil.  Labbe,  torn.  ii.  p.  1620. 

♦  Lib.  tie  Remiss.  Peccat.  c.  23. — N.  B.  This  doctrine  concerning  the  unity 
of  the  ctiurch,  and  the  necessity  of  adhering  to  it,  under  pain  of  damnation, 
which  appears  so  rigid  to  modern  Protestants,  was  almost  universally  taught  by 
their  predecessors;  as,  for  example,  by  Calvin,  1.  iv.  Instit.  I.  and  Beza, 
Confess.  Fid.  c.  v. ;  by  the  Huguenots,  in  their  Catechism  ;  by  the  Scotch,  in 
their  Profession  of  1568  ;  by  the  church  of  England,  Art.  18 ;  by  the  celebrated 
bishop  Pearson,  &c.  The  last  named  writes  thus :  "  Christ  never  appointed 
two  ways  to  heaven ;  nor  did  he  build  a  church,  to  save  some,  and  make  another 
institution  for  other  men's  salvation.  As  none  were  saved  from  the  deluge  but 
such  as  were  within  the  ark  of  Noah — so  none  shall  ever  escape  the  eternal 
wrath  of  Gal,  which  belong  not  to  the  church  of  God.'* — Exposit.  of  Creed, 
^349,  11*  ,     . 


92 


Letter  XV. 


thematized  the  several  heretics  and  schismatics  that  have  dogu 
matized  in  succession,  whatever  has  been  the  quality  of  their 
'  errors,  or  the  pretext  for  tlieir  disunion. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  &£c. 

J.  M. 


LETTER  XV. 
To  JAMES  BROWJV,  Esq,  fye. 


Ik  '• 
{J. 


PROTESTANT  DISUmOX. 

Dear  Sir, 
In  the  inquiry  I  am  about  to  make  respecting  the  church  or 
society  of  Christians,  to  which  this  mark  of  unity  belongs,  it 
will  be  sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  consider,  that  of  Protest- 
ants, on  one  hand,  and  that  of  Catholics  on  tiie  other.  To  speak 
properly,  however,  it  is  an  absurdity  to  talk  of  the  church  or 
society  of  Protestants  ;  for  the  term  PROTESTANT  expresses 
nothing  positive^  much  less  any  union  or  association  among 
them :  it  barely  signifies  one  who  protests  or  declares  against 
some  other  person  or  persons,  thing  or  things  ;  and  in  the  pre- 
sent instance  it  signifies  those  who  protest  against  the  Catholic 
Jiurch.  Hence  there  may  be,  and  there  are,  numberless  sects 
of  Protestants,  divided  from  each  other  in  every  thing,  except 
in  opposing  their  true  mother,  the  Catholic  church.  St.  Austin 
reckons  up  ninety  heresies  which  had  protested  against  tlie 
church  before  his  time,  that  is,  during  tiie  first  four  hundred 
years  of  her  existence ;  and  ecclesiastical  writers  have  counted 
about  the  same  number,  who  rose  up  since  that  period,  down 
to  the  era  of  Luther's  protestation,  which  took  place  early  in 
the  sixteenth  century  :  whereas,  from  the  last  mentioned  era,  to 
the  end  of  the  same  century,  Staphylus  and  cardinal  Hosius 
enumerated  two  hundred  and  seventy  diflerent  sects  of  Protest- 
ants :  and,  alas  !  how  have  Protestant  sects,  beyond  reckoning 
and  description,  multiplied,  during  the  last  two  hundred  years ! 
Thus  has  the  observation  of  the  above  cited  holy  father  been 
verified  in  modern,  no  less  than  it  was  in  former  ages,  where 
he  exclaims :  "  Into  how  many  morsels  have  those  sects  been 
broken  who  have  divided  themselves  from  the  unity  of  the 


Letter  XV. 


93 


church  !"^  You  are  not  ignorant  that  the  illustrious  Bossuet 
has  written  two  considerable  volumes  on  the  Variations  of  the 
Protestants  ;  chiefly  on  those  of  the  Lutheran  and  the  Calvin- 
istic  pedigrees.  Numerous  other  variations,  dissensions,  and 
mutual  persecutions,  even  to  tlie  extremity  of  death,f  which 
have  taken  place  among  them,  I  have  had  occasion  to  mention 
in  my  former  letters  and  other  works.  |  I  have  also  quoted  the 
lamentations  of  Calvin,  Dudith,  and  other  heads  of  the  Pro- 
testants, on  the  subject  of  these  divisions.  You  will  recollect, 
in  particular,  what  the  latter  writes  concerning  those  diflerences; 
"  Our  people  are  carried  away  by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  If 
you  know  what  their  belief  is  to-day,  you  cannot  tell  what  it 
will  be  to-morrow.  Is  there  one  article  of  religion,  in  which 
these  churches,  who  are  at  war  with  the  Pope,  agree  together  ? 
If  you  run  over  all  the  articles,  from  the  first  to  the  last,  you 
will  not  find  one  which  is  not  held  by  some  of  them  to  be  au 
article  of  faith,  and  rejected  by  others,  as  an  impiety."'^  ,  „  . 
With  these  and  numberless  other  historical  facts  of  the  same 
nature  before  his  eyes,  would  it  not,  dear  sir,  I  appeal  to  your 
own  good  sense,  be  the  extremity  of  folly  for  any  one  to  lay  the 
least  claim  to  the  mark  of  unity  in  favour  of  Protestants,  or  to 
pretend  that  they  who  are  united  in  nothing  but  their  hostility 
towards  the  Catholic  church,  can  form  the  one  church  we  pro- 
fess to  believe,  in  the  creed  !  Perhaps,  however,  you  will  say, 
that  the  mark  of  unity,  which  is  wanting  among  the  endless 
divisions  of  Protestants  in  general,  may  be  found  in  the  church 
to  which  you  belong,  tlie  estabhshed  church  of  England.     I 

•  St.  Aug.  contra  Petolian. 

t  Luther  pronounced  the  Sacramentarians,  namely,  the  Calvinists,  Zaing- 
Hans,  and  those  Protestants  in  general,  who  denied  the  real  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  sacrament,  heretics,  and  damned  souls,  for  whom  it  is  not  lawful  to  pray. 
Epist.  ad  Arginten.  Catech.  Parv.  Comment  in  Gen.  His  followers  per!>ecuted 
Bucer,  Melancthon's  nephew,  with  imprisonment,  and  Crellius  to  death,  for  en- 
deavouring to  soften  their  master's  doctrine  in  this  point.  Mosheim  by  Mac- 
laine,  vol.  iv.  p.  341 — 353.  Zuinglius,  while  he  deified  Hercules,  Theseus, 
&c.  condemned  the  Anabaptists  to  be  drowned,  pronouncing  this  sentence  on 
Felix  Mans:  "  Qui  iterum  tnergitnt  mergantnr ;^'  which  sentence  was  accord- 
ingly executed  at  Zurich.  Limborch.  Introd.  71.  Not  content  with  anathema- 
tizing and  imprisoning  those  reformers  who  dissented  from  his  system,  John 
Calvin  caused  two  of  them,  Servetus  and  Gruet,  to  be  put  to  death.  The  Pres- 
byterians of  Holland  and  New-England  were  equally  intolerant  with  respect  to 
other  denominations  of  Protestants.  The  latter  hanged  four  Quakers,  one  of 
them  a  woman,  on  account  of  their  religion.  In  England  itself,  frequent  execu- 
tions of  Anabaptists  and  other  Protestants  took  place,  from  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI.  till  that  of  Charles  I.;  and  other  less  sanguinary  persecutions  till  the  time 
of  James  II.  ,. 

t  LETTERS  TO  A  PREBENDARY,  &c. 

i  Epist.  ad  Capiton.  inter.  Epist.  Bezac. 


94 


Letter  XV* 


grant,  dear  sir,  that  your  communion  has  better  pretentions  to 
this,  and  the  other  marks  of  tlie  church,  than  any  other  Pro- 
testant society  has.  She  is,  as  our  controversial  poet  sings, 
"  The  least  deform'd  because  reformed  the  least."*  You  will 
recollect  the  account  I  have  given,  in  a  former  letter,f  of  the 
material  changes  which  this  church  has  undergone,  at  differenf 
times,  since  her  first  entire  formation  in  the  reign  of  the  lasf 
Edward,  and  which  place  her  at  variance  with  herself.  You 
will  also  remember  the  proofs  I  brought  of  Hoadlyism,  in  othei 
words,  of  Socinianism,  that  damnable  and  cursed  heresy^  as  this 
church  termed  it  in  her  last  synod,  J  against  some  of  her  most 
illustrious  bishops,  archdeacons,  and  other  dignitaries  of  modern 
times.  These  teach,  in  official  charges  to  the  clergy,  in  con- 
secration sermons,  and  in  publications  addressed  to  the  throne, 
that  the  church  herself  is  nothing  more  than  a  voluntary  asso- 
ciation of  certain  people  for  the  benefit  of  social  worship  ;  that 
they  themselves  are  in  no  other  sense  ministers  of  God  than  civil 
officers  are ;  that  Christ  has  left  us  no  exterior  means  of  grace, 
and  that,  of  course,  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  (which  are 
declared  necessary  for  salvation  in  the  Catechim)  produce  no 
spiritual  effect  at  all ;  in  short,  that  all  mysteries,  and  among 
the  rest  those  of  the  trinity  and  incarnation,  (for  denying  whitli, 
the  prelates  of  the  church  of  England  have  sent  so  many  Arians 
to  the  stake,  in  the  reigns  of  Edward,  Elizabeth,  and  James  I.) 
are  mere  nonsense.^  When  I  had  occasion  to  expose  this  fatal 
system,  (the  professors  of  which  Cranmer  and  Ridley  would 
have  sent,  at  once,  to  the  stake,)  I  hoped  it  was  of  a  local  na- 
ture, and  that  defending,  as  I  was  in  this  point,  the  Articles  nnd 
Liturgy  of  the  established  church  as  well  as  my  own,  I  should, 
thus  far,  be  supported  by  its  dignitaries  and  other  learned  mem- 
bers :  1  found,  however,  the  contrary  to  be  generally  the  case,|| 
and  that  the  irreligious  infection  was  infinitely  more  extensive 
than  I  apprehended.  In  fact,  I  found  the  most  celebrnted  pro- 
fessors of  divinity  in  the  universities  delivering  Dr.  Balguy's 
doctrine  to  the  young  clergy  in  their  public  leoUires,  and  the 


0> 


I     •  Dryden,  Hind  and  Panther.  t  Letter  viii. 

±  Constitutions  and  Canor.s,  A.  D.  1640.  Sparrow's  CoUert.  p.  355. 

♦  See  extracts  from  the  Sermons  of  Bishop  Hoadley,  Dr.  Balguy,  and  Dr. 
Sttirges,  in  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Let.  viii.  The  most  perspicuous  and  ner- 
vous oAhese  preachers,  unquestionably,  was  Dr.  Balg;uy.  See  his  Discoiirjei 
and  Charges  preached  on  public  occasions,  and  dedicated  to  the  king.  Lockytr 
Davii,  1785. 

II  That  great  ornament  of  the  F>piscopnl  bench,  Dr.  Horsloy,  bishop  of  SL 
Asaph^,  does  not  fall  under  this  censure ;  aa  he  protected  the  present  writer, 
ImU)  in  aad  out  of  parliament. 


Letter  XV. 


95 


most  enlightened  bishops  publishing  it  in  their  pastorals  and 
otiier  works. 

Among  these,  the  Norrisian  professor  of  theology  at  Cam-* 
bridge  carries  his  deference  to  the  archdeacon  of  Winchester  so 
far,  as  to  tell  his  scholars  :  "  As  I  distrust  my  own  conclusions 
tnnre  than  his,  (Dr.  Balguy's,)  if  you  judge  that  they  are  not  re- 
concileable,  1  must  exhort  you  to  confide  in  him  rather  than 
me."*  In  fact,  his  ideas  concerning  the  mysteries  of  Chris- 
tianity, particularly  the  trinity  and  our  redemption  by  Christ, 
and  indeed  concerning  most  other  theological  points,  perfectly 
agree  with  those  of  Dr.  Balguy.  He  represents  the  difference 
between  the  members  of  the  established  church  and  the  Socini- 
ans  to  consist  in  nothing  but  "  a  few  unmeaning  words  ;"  and 
asserts,  that  "  they  need  never  be  upon  their  guard  against 
eacli  otli€r."f  Speaking  of  the  custom,  as  he  calls  it,  "  in  the 
Scripture,  of  mentioning  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  togcihcry 
m  the  most  solemn  occasions,  of  which  baptism  is  one,"  he 
says,  "  Did  I  pretend  to  understand  what  I  say,  I  might  be  a 
Tritlicist  or  im  Infidel,  but  I  could  not  worship  the  one  true 
God,  and  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ  to  be  Lord  of  all."| 
Another  learned  professor  of  divinity,  who  is  also  a  bishop  of 
tlje  established  church,  teaches  his  clergy  "  Not  to  esteem  any 
particular  opinion  concerning  the  trinity,  satisfaction,  and  ori- 
ginal sin,  necessary  to  salvation."*^  Accordingly,  he  equally 
absolves  the  Unitarian  from  impiety  in  refusing  divine  honour 
to  our  Blessed  Saviour,  and  "  the  worshipper  of  Jvjsus,"  as  he 
expresses  himself,  from  idolaii'y  in  paying  it  to  him,  on  the  score 
of  their  common  good  intention.^  This  sufliciently  shows  what 
the  bishop's  own  belief  was  concerning  the  adorable  trinity, 
and  the  divinity  of  the  second  person  of  it.  I  have  given,  in  a 
former  letter,  u  remnrkal)le  passage  from  the  above  quoted 
charge,  where  bishop  Watson,  speaking  of  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  says  to  his  assembled  clergy,  "  I  think  it  safer  to 
tell  you  whvre  they  are  contained  than  what  they  are.  They 
are  contained  iii  the  Bible ;  and  if,  in  reading  that  book,  your 
sentiments  should  be  different  from  those  of  your  neighbour,  or 
from  those  of  the  church,  be  persuaded  that  infallibility  apper- 
tains as  little  to  you  as  it  does  to  the  church."  I  have  else- 
where exposed  the  complete  Socinianism  of  bishop  Hoadley 


^ 


•  Lectiirei  in  Divinity,  delivered  in  the  university  of  Cumbridge,  by  J.  Heji 
[D.D.  Ri  Norrii>iRn  professor,  in  four  volumeB,  1797.  Vol.  ii.  p.  104. 

t  Vol.  ii.  |).  41.  t  Vol.  ii.  pp.  250,  251. 

♦  Dr.  Watson,  l)ishop  of  L^ndaff's  Charge,   1795. 
0  Collect,  of  TliauLaV.irt«.  "-♦■  ';-  '•"  • 


m 


Letter  XV, 


1.^ 


and  his  ccholars,*  among  whom  we  must  reckon  bishop  Shipley 
in  the  first  rank. 

Another  celebrated  writer,  who  was  himself  a  dignitary  of  the 
«8tablishment,f  arguing,  as  he  does  most  powerfully,  against 
the  consistency  and  efficacy  of  public  confessions  of  faith,  among 
Protestants  of  every  denomination,  says,  that  out  of  a  hundred 
ministers  of  tlie  establishment,  who,  every  year,  subscribe  the 
Articles  made  "  to  prevent  diversity  of  opinions,"  he  has  reason 
to  believe  *'  that  above  one-fifth  of  this  number  do  not  subscribe 
or  assent  to  these  Articles  in  one  uniform  sense."J  He  also 
quotes  a  Right  Rev.  author  who  maintains  that  "  No  two  think- 
ing men  ever  agreed  exactly  in  their  opinion,  even  with  regard 
to  any  one  article  of  it."§  He  also  quotes  the  famous  bishop 
Bumet,  who  says,  that  "  The  requiring  of  subscription  to  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  is  a  great  imposition,  ||  and  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  clergy  subscribe  the  Articles,  without  ever  examining 
them,  and  others  do  it  because  they  must  do  it,  though  they 
can  hardly  satisfy  their  consciences  about  some  things  in  them."1[ 
He  shows  that  the  advocates  for  subscription,  Doctors  Nichols, 
Bennet,  Waterland,  and  Stebbing,  all  vindicated  it  on  opposite 
grounds ;  and  he  is  forced  to  confess  the  same  thing,  with  re- 
spect to  the  enemies  of  subscription,  with  whom  he  himself  ranks. 
Dr.  Clark  pretends  there  is  a  salvo  in  the  subscription,  namely, 
I  assent  to  the  articles  in  as  much  as  they  are  agreeable  to  scrip- 
ture,** though  the  judges  of  England  have  declared  the  contra- 
ry.f  f  Dr.  Sykes  alleges  that  the  Articles  were  either  purposely 
or  negligently  made  equivocat.'^'l  Another  writer,  whom  he 
praises,  undertakes  to  explain  how  "  these  Articles  may  be  sub- 
scribed, and  consequently  believed,  by  a  Sabellian,  an  orthodox 
Trinitarian,  a  Tritheist,  and  an  Arian,  so  called."  After  this 
citation.  Dr.  Blackburn  shrewdly  adds :  "  One  would  wonder 
what  idea  this  writer  had  o{ peace,  when  he  supposed  it  might 
be  kept  by  the  act  of  subscription  among  men  of  these  diflerent 
judgments."§'§  If  you  will  look  into  Overton's  True  Churchman 
Ascertained,  you  will  meet  with  additional  proofs  of  the  repug- 
nance of  many  other  dignitaries  and  distinguished  churchmen 
to  the  articles  of  their  own  church,  ns  well  as  of  their  disagree- 
ment in  faith  among  themselves.  Hence  you  will  not  wonder 
riiat  a  numerous  body  of  them  should,  some  years  ago,  have 


•  Letters  to  a  Prebendary. 

t  Dr.  Blackburn,  arrhdencon  of  Clenvelnnd,  author  of  the  Confeiaional. 

i  Confess.  3  Kd.  p.  45.  ♦  Dr.  Clayton,  bishop  of  Clogher. 

ConfeM.p.  03.  f   r.  91. 

t  v.  237.  ii 


••  P.  L»22. 
P.  239. 


tt  P.  IftO. 


^.■ 


Letter  XV, 


¥i 


ishop  Shipley 

?nitaryofthc 
'ully,  against 
faith,  among 
of  a  hundred 
subscribe  the 
he  has  reason 
not  subscribe 
"t  He  also 
Vo  two  think- 
i  with  regard 
imous  bishop 
ription  to  the 
It  the  greater 
er  examining 
though  they 
js  in  them."T 
tors  Nichols, 
t  on  opposite 
ng,  with  re- 
nraself  ranks. 
»tion,  namely, 
able  to  scrip- 
ed  the  contra- 
iier  purposely 
er,  whom  he 
J  may  be  sub- 
,  an  orthodox 
'  After  this 
ould  wonder 
sed  it  might 
hese  diflerent 
e  Churchman 
of  the  repiig- 
d  churchmen 
icir  disagree- 
I  not  wonder 
rs  ago,  have 


[^onfesBiunal. 
gher. 

ft  P.  103. 


petitioned  the  legislature  to  be  relieved  from  the  grievance^  as 
they  termed  it,  of  subscribing  these  Articles  ;*  and  that  we 

ould  continually  hear  of  the  mutilation  of  the  liturgy  by  so 
:;iany  of  them,  to  avoid  sanctioning  those  doctrines  of  their 
church,  which  they  disbelieve  and  reject,  particularly  the  Atha- 
nasian  Creed  and  the  absolution.! 

I  might  disclose  a  still  wider  departure  from  their  ori^nal 
confessions  of  faith,  and  still  more  signal  dissensions  among  the 
different  dissenters,  and  particularly  among  the  old  stock  of  the 
Presbyterians  and  Independents,  if  this  were  necessary.  Most 
of  these,  says  Dr.  Jortin,  are  now  Socinians,  though  we  all 
know,  they  heretofore  persecuted  that  sect  with  fire  and  sword. 
The  renowned  Dr.  Priestly  not  only  denied  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  but  with  horrid  blasphemy,  accused  him  of  numerous 
errors,  weaknesses,  and  faults  :J  and  when  the  authority  of 
Calvin,  in  burning  Servetus,  was  objected  to  him,  he  answered, 
"  Calvin  was  a  great  man,  but,  if  a  little  man  be  placed  on  the 
shoulders  of  a  giant,  he  will  be  enabled  to  see  farther  than  the 
giant  himself."  The  doctrine  now  preached  in  the  fashionable 
Unitarian  chapels  of  the  metropolis,  I  understand,  greatly  re- 
sembles that  of  the  late  Theophilanthropists  of  France,  insti- 
tuted by  an  Infidel,  one  of  the  five  directors. 

The  chief  question,  however,  at  present  is,  whether  the  church 
of  England  can  lay  any  claim  to  the  first  character  or  mark  of 
the  true  church,  pointed  out  In  our  common  creed,  that  of 
UNITY  ?  On  this  subject  I  have  to  observe,  that  in  addition 
to  the  dissensions  among  its  members,  already  mentioned,  there 
are  whole  societies,  not  communicating  with  the  ostensible 
church  of  England,  who  make  very  strong  and  plausible  pre- 
tensions to  be,  each  of  them,  the  real  church  of  England.  Such 
are  the  Non-jurors,  who  maintain  the  original  doctrine  of  this 
church,  contained  in  the  Homilies  concerning  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance,  and  who  adhere  to  the  first  ritual  of  Ed- 
ward VI.*^  Such  are  the  evangelical  preachers  and  their  dis- 
ciples, who  insist  upon  it  that  pure  Calvinism  is  the  creed  of 


•  Particularly  in  1772. 

t  The  omission  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  in  particular,  so  often  took  place 
in  the  public  service,  that  an  act  of  parliament  has  just  passed,  among  other 
thin^,  to  enforce  the  repetition  of  it.  But  if  the  clergymen  alluded  to  really 
believe  that  Christ  is  not  God,  wliut  is  the  Legislature  doing  in  forcing  them  to 
worship  hini  as  Cod  ? 

\  Thcolog.  UoiKwit.  vol.  4. 

♦  'J'o  this  rhurc;h  bolonjicd  Ken,  and  tlio  other  six  bishops,  who  were  deposed 
at  the  revolution.  Leslie,  CoUior,  Hicks,  Brot,  and  muny  other  chief  ornaments 
oftho  church  of  Eugluud. 


9B 


'Letter  Am. 


the  established  church.*  Finally,  such  are  the  IVIethodists 
whom  professor  Hey  describes  as  forming  the  old  church  of 
England.j[  And,  even  now,  it  is  notorious  that  many  clergy. 
men  preach  in  the  churches  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  meeting 
houses  in  the  evening ;  while  their  opulent  patrons  are  pur- 
chasing as  many  church-livings  as  they  can,  in  order  to  fill  them 
with  incumbents  of  the  same  description.  Tell  me  now,  dear 
sir,  whether,  from  this  view  of  the  state  of  the  church  of 
England,  or  from  any  other  fair  view  which  can  be  taken  of  it, 
you  will  venture  to  ascribe  to  it  that  first  mark  of  the  true 
churchy  which  you  profess  to  belong  to  her,  when,  in  the  face  of 
heaven  and  earth,  you  solemnly  declare,  /  believe  in  ONE  Ca- 
tholic Church  9  Say,  is  there  any  single  mark  or  principle  of 
real  unity  in  it  ?  I  anticipate  the  answers  your  candour  will 
give  to  these  questions. 

I  am,  &CC. 

J.  M 


\ 


LETTER  XVI. 

To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq.  ^r. 
CATHOLIC  umrY. 

Dear  Sir, 
We  have  now  to  see  whether  that  first  mark  of  the  true 
church,  which  we  confess  in  our  creeds,  but  which  we  have 
found  to  be  wanting  to  the  Protestant  societies,  and  even  to  tire 
most  ostensible  and  orderly  of  them,  the  established  church  of 
England,  does  or  does  not  appear  in  that  principal  and  primeval 
stock  of  Christianity,  called  the  Catholic  church*  In  case  this 
church,  spread,  as  it  is,  throughout  the  various  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  subsisting,  as  it  has  done,  through  all  ages,  since  that 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  should  have  maintained  that  reli- 
gious unityt  which  the  modern  sects,  confined  to  a  single  peo' 

•  It  18  clear  from  (he  Articles  and  Homilies,  and  still  more  from  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  assortors  of  freo-will  in  this  country,  that  thechiirchof  England  was 
Calvinistic  till  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Jnmcs  I.  in  the  course  of  which  he  sent 
Episcopal  representatives  from  England  and  Scotland  to  the  great  Protestant 
8ynoil  of  t)ort.  These,  in  the  name  of  their  respective  churches,  signed  timl 
"  the  faithful  who  fail  into  atrocious  crimes,  do  not  forfeit  jualificalion,  or  iucui 
ilamnatinn/' 

t  Vol.  ii.  p.  73. 


W- 


Letter  XVt 


^^ 


le  I\re(hodlst9, 

old  church  of 

many  clergy- 

in  the  meeting 

foiis  are  pur- 

ler  to  fill  them 

me  now,  dear 

he   church  of 

be  taken  of  it, 

rk  of  the  true 

,  in  the  face  of 

in  OJYE  Ca- 

ar  principle  of 

•  candour  will 


&CC. 


J.  M 


k  of  the  true 
hich  we  have 
nd  even  to  tire 
lied  church  of 
1  and  primeval 
In  case  this 
lations  of  the 
gcs,  since  that 
led  that  reli- 
a  single  pco' 

Vom  the  pcrsecu- 
;h  of  England  was 
of  which  ho  sent 
great  ProtcstRnt 
•rlics,  signed  that 
ificaliout  or  i»(:u( 


pie,  have  been  unable  to  preserve,  you  will  allow  that  it  must 
have  been  framed  by  a  consummate  Wisdom,  and  protected  by 
an  omnipotent  Providence. 

Now,  sir,  I  maintain  it,  as  a  notorious  fact,  that  this  ori^nal 
and  great  church  iS)  and  ever  has  been,  strictly  ONE  in  all  the 
above-mentioned  particulars,  and  first  in  her  faith  and  terms  of 
communion.  The  same  creeds,  namely,  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  Nicene  Creed,  the  Athanasian  Creed,  and  the  Creed  of 
Pope  Pius  IV.  drawn  up  in  conformity  with  the  definitions  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  are  every  where  recited  and  professed,  to 
the  strict  letter  j  the  same  articles  of  faith  and  morality  are 
taught  in  all  our  catechisms  j  the  same  rule  of  faith,  namely,  the 
revealed  Word  of  God,  contained  in  Scripture  and  tradition, 
and  the  same  expositor  and  interpreter  of  this  rule,  the  Catholic 
church  speaking  by  the  mouth  of  her  pastors,  are  admitted  and 
proclaimed  by  all  Catholics  throughout  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe,  from  Ireland  to  Chili,  and  from  Canada  to  India.  You 
may  convince  yourself  of  this  any  day,  at  the  Royal  Exchange, 
by  conversing  with  intelligent  Catholic  merchants,  from  the 
several  countries  in  question.  You  may  satisfy  yourself  re- 
specting it,  even  by  interrogating  the  poor  illiterate  Irish,  and 
other  Catholic  foreigners,  who  traverse  the  country  in  various 
directions.  Ask  them  their  belief  as  to  the  fundamental  articles 
of  Christianity,  the  unity  and  trinity  of  God,  the  incarnation 
and  death  of  Christ,  his  divinity,  and  atonement  for  sin  by  his 
passion  and  death,  the  necessity  of  baptism,  the  nature  of  the 
olessed  sacrament ;  question  them  on  these  and  other  such 
points,  but  with  kindness,  patience,  and  condescension,  particu- 
larly with  respect  to  their  language  and  delivery,  and,  I  will 
venture  to  say,  you  will  not  find  any  essential  variation  in  the 
answers  of  most  of  them  ;  and  much  less  such  as  you  will  find 
by  proposing  the  same  questions  to  an  equal  number  of  Pro- 
testants, whether  learned  or  unlearned,  of  the  self-same  deno- 
mination. At  all  events,  the  Catholics,  if  properly  interrogated, 
will  confess  their  behef  in  one  comprehensive  article  ;  namely, 
this,  /  believe  whatever  the  holy  Catholic  church  believes  and 
teaches. 

Protestant  divines,  at  the  present  day,  excuse  their  dissent 
from  the  Articles  which  they  subscribe  and  swear  to,  by  rea- 
son of  their  alleged  antiquity  and  obsoleteness,*  though  none 
of  them  are  yet  quite  two  centuries  and  a  half  old,f  and  they 

•  Dr.  Hey's  Lectures  on  Divinity,  vol.  ii.  pp.  49,  50,  51,  &c. 
t  The  39  Article!  were  drawn  in  156?,  and  confirmed  by  the  queen  and  tht 
biibopiin  1571. 
^      12 


100 


Letter  XVL 


feel  no  difficulty  in  avowing  that  "  a  tacit  reformation,'*  since 
the  first  pretended  reformation,  has  taken  place  among  them.* 
This  alone  is  a  confession  that  their  church  is  not  one  and  the 
same ;  whereas  all  Catholics  believe  as  firmly  in  the  doctrinal 
decisions  of  the  council  of  Nice,  passed  fifteen  hundred  years 
ago,  as  they  do  in  those  of  the  council  of  Trent,  confirmed  ii; 
1564,  and  other  still  more  recent  decisions  ;  because  the  Catho- 
lic chm'ch,  like  its  divine  Founder,  is  the  same  yesterday ^  to-day, 
and  for  ever,     Heb.  xiii.  8.„,im..  .,.,,<., . 

Nor  is  it  in  her  doctrine  only,  that  the  Catholic  church  ii 
one  and  the  same ;  she  is  also  uniform  in  whatever  is  essential 
in  her  liturgy.  In  every  part  of  the  world,  she  ofiers  up  the 
same  unbloody  sacrifice  of  the  holy  mass,  which  is  her  chief  act 
of  divine  worship  ;  she  administers  the  same  seven  sacraments, 
provided  by  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  for  the  several  wants  of 
the  faithful ;  the  great  festivals  of  our  redemption  are  kept 
holy  on  the  same  days,  and  the  apostolical  fast  of  Lent  is  every 
where  proclaimed  and  observed.  In  short,  such  is  the  unity  of 
the  Catholic  church,  that  when  Catholic  priests  or  laymen, 
landing  at  one  of  tlie  neighbouring  ports,  from  India,  Canada, 
or  Brastil,  come  to  my  chapel,f  I  find  them  capable  of  joining 
with  me  in  every  essential  part  of  the  divine  service. 

Lastly,  as  a  regular,  uniform,  ecclesiastical  constitution  and 
government,  and  a  due  subordination  of  its  members,  are  re- 
quisite to  constitute  a  uniform  church,  and  to  preserve  unity  of 
doctrine  and  liturgy  in  it,  so  these  are  undeniably  evident  in  the 
Catholic  church,  and  in  her  alone.  She  is,  in  the  language  of 
St.  Cyprian,  "  The  habitation  of  peace  and  unity ,"f  and  in 
that  of  the  inspired  text,  like  an  army  in  battle  array. ^  Spread, 
as  the  Catholics  are,  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  accordHiig  to 
my  former  observation,  and  disunited,  as  they  are  in  every 
other  respect,  they  form  one  uniform  body  in  the  order  of  re- 
ligion. Whether  roaming  in  the  plains  of  Paraguay,  or  con- 
fined in  the  palaces  of  Pckin,  each  simple  Catholic,  in  point  of 
ecclesiastical  economy,  is  subject  to  his  pastor ;  each  pastor 
submits  to  his  bishop,  and  each  bishop  acknowledges  the  supre- 
macy of  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  in  matters  of  faith,  morality, 
and  spiritual  jurisdiction.  In  case  of  error,  or  insubordination, 
which,  from  the  frailty  and  malice  of  the  human  heart,  must, 
from  time  to  time,  disturb  her,  there  are  found  canons  and  ec- 
clesiastical tribunals,  and  judges,  to  correct  and  put  an  end  to 


If 


Hi 


•  Hey,  p.  4B. 

t  At  Winchester,  where  the  writer  rcsiJcJ  whca  this  letter  was  written. 

I  "  J)onnci!ium  i)aci9  et  unitutis/'  St.  Cyp.  t  Cant.  vi.  4. 


Letter  XVL 


101 


tion,"  since 
ong  them.* 
one  and  the 
le  doctrinal 
ndred  years 
confirmed  in 
the  Catho- 
day,  to-day, 

church  ii 
is  essential 
ffers  up  the 
ler  chief  act 
sacraments, 
ral  wants  of 
)n  are  kept 
eut  is  every 
the  unity  of 
or  laymen, 
ia,  Canada, 
e  of  joining 

• 

>titution  and 
ers,  are  re- 
rve  unity  of 
ident  in  the 
language  of 
y,"J  and  in 
§     Spread, 
ccordiing  to 
re  in  every 
order  of  re- 
ay,  or  con- 
in  point  of 
;ach  pastor 
5  the  supre- 
ii,  morality, 
)ordination, 
leart,  must, 
ons  and  ec- 
t  an  end  to 


tlie  evil,  while  similar  evils  in  other  religious  societies  are  found 
to  be  interminable. 

I  have  said  little  or  nothing  of  the  varieties  of  Protestants  in 
regard  to  their  liturgies  and  ecclesiastical  governments,  be- 
cause these  matters  being  very  intricate  and  obscure,  as  well  as 
diversified,  would  lead  me  too  far  a-field  for  my  present  plan. 
It  is  sufficient  to  remark,  that  the  numerous  Protestant  sects 
expressly  disclaim  any  union  with  each  other  in  these  points. 
That  a  great  proportion  of  them  reject  every  species  of  liturgy 
and  ecclesiastical  government  whatever,  and  that,  in  the  church 
of  England  herself,  very  many  of  her  dignitaries,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished members,  express  their  pointed  disapprobation  of 
certain  parts  of  her  liturgy,  no  less  than  of  her  Articles,*  and 
that  none  of  them  appear  to  stand  in  awe  of  any  authority,  ex- 
cept that  which  is  enforced  by  the  civil  power.  Upon  a  review 
of  the  whole  matter  of  Protestant  disunion  and  Catholic  unity, 
I  am  forced  to  repeat  with  Tertullian,  "  It  is  the  character  of 
error  to  vary ;  but  when  a  tenet  is  found  to  be  one  and  the 
same  among  a  great  variety  of  people,  it  is  to  be  considered  not 
as  an  error  but  as  a  divine  tradition."f 

I  am,  dear  sir,  he. 

^  .,         ,  J-  M. 

•  Archdeacon  Paley  very  naturally  complains,  that  "  the  doctrine  of  the 
Articles  of  the  church  of  England,"  which  he  so  pointedly  objects  to,  "  are 
interwoven,  with  much  industry,  into  her  forms  of  public  worship."  I  have 
not  met  with  a  Protestant  bishop,  or  other  eminent  divine,  from  archbishop 
Tillotson  down  to  the  present  bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  approves  altogether  of  the 
Athanasian  Croed,  which,  however,  is  appointed  to  be  said  or  sung  on  thirteen 
chief  festivals  in  the  year. 

t  De  Prsescrip.  contra  Haer.  The  famous  bishop  Jewel,  in  excuse  for  the 
acknowledged  variations  of  his  own  church,  objects  to  Catholics  that  there  are 
varieties  in  theirs ;  namely,  some  of  the  friars  are  dressed  in  bliick,  and  some  in 
white,  and  some  in  blue  :  that  some  of  them  live  on  meat,  and  some  on  fish,  and 
some  on  herbs :  they  have  also  disputes  in  their  schools,  as  Dr.  Porteus  also  re- 
marks ;  but  they  both  omit  to  mention,  that  these  disputes  are  not  about  articles 
of  faith. 


!  written. 
C»nt.  vi.  4. 


jy. 


[102] 


hi: 


ii.t'>.' 


Pf"' 


yiiDi  :v';x;    '>f- 


rt,;i:' 


rtW; 


T    t 


I  r' 


i  i  ' 


.'  'iI:{k<: 


i   • 


.    LETTER  XVII.  ' 

from  JAMES  BROWJST,  Esq,  ^c. 
OBJECTJOJ\rS  TO  THE  CLAIM  OF  EXCLUSIVE  SALVATIOK 

Reverend  Sir, 
I  AM  too  much  taken  up  myself  with  the  present  sutiject  of 
your  letters,  willingly  to  interrupt  the  continuation  of  them : 
but  some  of  the  gentlemen,  who  frequent  New  Cottage,  having 
communicated  your  three  last  to  a  learned  dignitary  who  is 
upon  a  visit  in  our  neighbourhood,  and  he  having  made  certain 
remarks  upon  them,  I  have  been  solicited  by  those  gentlemen 
to  forward  them  to  you.  The  terms  of  our  correspondence 
render  an  apology  from  me  unnecessary,  and  still  more  the 
conviction  that  I  believe  you  entertain  of  my  being,  with  sincere 
respect  and  regard, 

Rev.  Sir,  &c. 

JAMES  brown: 

"Extract  of  a  Letter  from  the  Rev.  JV.  JV.  Prebendary  of  A*,  to 

Mr.  jy. 

It  is  well  known  to  many  Roman  Catholic  gentlemen,  with 
whom  I  have  lived  in  habits  of  social  intercourse,  that  I  was  al- 
ways a  warm  advocate  for  their  emancipation,  and  that,  so  far  from 
having  any  objections  to  their  religion,  I  considered  their  hopes 
of  future  bliss  as  well  founded  as  my  own.  In  return,  I  thought 
I  saw  in  them  a  corresponding  liberality  and  charity.  But 
these  letters  which  you  have  sent  me  from  the  correspondent  ol 
your  society  at  Winchester,  have  quite  disgusted  me  with  their 
bigotry  and  uncharitableness.  In  opposition  to  the  Chrysos- 
tomes  and  Augustines,  whom  he  quotes  so  copiously,  for  his 
doctrine  of  exclusive  salvation,  I  will  place  a  modern  bishop  of 
my  church,  no  way  inferior  to  them,  Dr.  Watson,  who  says, 
"  Shall  we  never  be  freed  from  the  narrow-minded  contentions 
of  bigots,  and  from  the  insults  of  men  who  know  not  what  spirit 
they  are  of,  when  they  stint  the  Omnipotent  in  the  exercise  of 
his  mercy,  and  bar  the  doors  of  heaven  against  every  sect  but 
their  own  ?  Shall  we  never  learn  to  think  more  humbly  of  our- 
selves and  less  despicably  of  others  ;  to  believe  that  the  Father 
of  the  Universe  accommodates  not  his  judgments  to  the  wretcli- 


M 


Letter  XVIIL 


103 


iLF^TIOJf. 


ed  wrangHngs  of  pedantic  theologues ;  but  that  every  one,  who, 
with  an  honest  intention,  and  to  the  best  of  his  abilities,  seeketh 
truth,  whether  he  findeth  it  or  not,  and  worketh  righteousness, 
will  be  accepted  of  by  him  ?"*  These,  sir,  are  exactly  my 
sentiments,  as  they  were  those  of  the  illustrious  Hoadley,  in  his 
celebrated  sermon,  wh.'ch  had  the  effect  of  stifling  most  of  the 
remaining  bigotry  in  the  established  church. f  There  is  not 
any  prayer  which  I  more  frequently  or  fervently  repeat  than 
that  of  the  liberal  minded  poet,  who  himself  passed  for  a  Roman 
Catholic,  particularly  the  following  stanza  of  it :   ..  ,,  ,i!n 


m 


"  Let  not  this  weak  and  erring  hand 
Presume  thy  bolts  to  throw, 
And  deal  damnation  round  the  land 
On  each  I  judge  tliy  foe."|      •  ; ,  , 


<:5 


I  hope  your  society  will  require  its  Popish  correspondent,  be- 
fore he  writes  any  more  letters  to  it  on  other  subjects,  to  answer 
what  our  prelate  and  his  own  poet  have  advanced  against  the 
bigotry  and  uncharitableness  of  excluding  Christians  of  any 
denomination  from  the  mercies  of  God  and  everlasting  happi- 
ness. He  may  assign  whatever  marks  he  pleases  of  the  true 
church,  but  I,  for  my  part,  shall  ever  consider  charity  as  the 
only  sure  mark  of  this,  conformably  with  what  Christ  says  :  By 
this  shall  all  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples^  if  ye  have  love  one 
to  another,    John  xiii.  35. 


1 1 ' ! ; 


'1 1 


I  «.v  I '    ,  ■■ 


•'-•  i    ■    I 


LETTER  XVIIL 


M  .     To  MMES  BHOWJS'y  Esq.  ^c.  '    ' 

OBJECTIONS  AJ{^WERED.  r.  •   i^ 

■;■.■•  \'t 

Dear  Sir,  »• 

In  answer  to  the  objections  of  the  Reverend  prebendary  to 
my  letters  on  the  mark  of  unity  in  the  true  church,  and  the  ne- 

■'it-    ' 

•  Bishop  Watson's  Theolog.  Tracts,  Pref.  p.  17. 

t  Bishop  Hoadley's  Sennon  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  This  made  the  choic* 
of  religious  a  thing  indifferent,  and  subjected  the  whole  business  of  religion  to 
the  civil  power.  Hence  sprung  the  famous  Bangorian  Controversy,  which, 
^hen  on  the  point  of  ending  in  a  censure  upon  Hoadley  from  the  Convocation, 
the  latter  was  interdicted  by  ministry,  and  has  never  since,  in  the  course  of  a 
hundred  years,  been  allowed  to  meet  a^in. 

t  Pope's  Universal  Prayer.  ^     ,,      j 

12* 


104 


If"     ■ 
111  "    ' 


cessity  of  being  incorporated  in  this  church,  I  must  observe,  in 
the  first  piace,  that  nothing  disgusts  a  reasoning  divine  more 
than  vague  charges  of  bigotry  and  intolerance^  inasmuch  as  they 
have  no  distinct  meaning,  and  are  equally  applied  to  all  sects 
and  individuals,  by  others,  whose  religious  opinions  are  more 
lax  than  tlieir  own.  These  odious  accusations  which  your 
churchmen  bring  against  Catholics,  the  Dissenters  bring  against 
you,  who  are  equally  loaded  with  them  by  Deists,  as  these  are, 
in  their  turn,  by  Atheists  and  Materialists.  Let  us  then,  dear 
sir,  in  the  serious  discussions  of  religion,  confine  ourselves  to 
language  of  a  defined  meaning,  leaving  vague  and  tinsel  terms 
to  poets  and  novelists.  '  '.'  "'   " "  ,' 

It  seems,  then,  that  bishop  Watson,  with  the  Rev.  N.  N.  and 
other  fashionable  latitudinarians  of  the  day,  are  indignant  at 
the  idea  of  "  stinting  the  Omnipotent  in  the  exercise  of  his 
mercy,  and  barring  the  doors  of  heaven  against  any  sect," 
however  heterodox  or  impious.  Nevertheless,  in  the  very  pas- 
sage which  I  have  quoted,  thej'  themselves  stint  this  mercy  to 
those  who  "  work  righteousness,"  which  implies  a  restraint  on 
men's  passions.  Methinks  I  now  hear  some  epicure  Divei  or 
elegant  libertine  retorting  on  these  liberal,  chai'itable,  divines,  lu 
their  own  words.  Pedantic  thcologues,  narrow  minded  bigots^ 
who  stint  the  Omnipotent  in  the  exercise  of  his  mercy,  and  bar 
the  doors  of  heaven  against  me,  for  following  the  impulse  which 
he  himself  has  planted  in  me  !  The  same  language  may,  witli 
equal  justice,  be  put  into  the  mouth  of  Nero,  Judas  Iscarlot,  and 
of  the  very  demons  themselves.  Thus,  in  pretending  to  mag- 
nily  God's  mercy,  these  men  would  annihilate  his  justice,  liis 
sanctity,  and  his  veracity !  Our  business,  then,  is,  not  to  form 
arbitrary  theories  concerning  the  divine  attributes,  but  to  attend 
to  what  he  himself  has  revealed  concerning  them  and  the  exer- 
cise of  them.  What  words  can  be  more  express  than  those  of 
Christ,  on  this  point,  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be 
saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned  !  Mark  xvi.  IG, 
or  than  those  of  St.  Paul :  JVithout  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God,  Heb.  xi.  6.  Conformably  to  this  doctrine,  the 
same  apostle  classes  heresies  with  murder  and  adultery  ;  con- 
cerning which  he  says,  they  who  do  such  things  shall  not  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God,  Gal.  v.  20,  21.  Accordingly,  he  orders 
that  a  man,  who  is  a  heretic,  shall  be  rejected.  Tit.  ill.  10,  and 
the  apostle  of  charity,  St.  John,  forbids  the  faithful  to  receive 
him  into  their  houses  ;  or  even  to  bid  him  God  speed  who  bring- 
eth  not  this  doctrine  of  Christ,  2  John  i.  10.  This  apostle  acted 
up  to  his  rule,  with  respect  to  the  treatment  of  persons  out  of 


m 


f4m.  wm- 


the  church,  when  he  hastily  withdrew  from  a  public  building, 
in  which  he  met  the  heretic  Cerinthus,  "  lest,"  as  he  said,  "it 
should  fall  down  upon  hira."* 

I  have  given,  in  a  former  letter,  some  of  tlie  numberless  pas- 
sages in  which  the  holy  fathers  speak  home  to  the  present 
point,  and,  as  these  are  far  more  expressive  and  emphatical  than 
what  I  myself  have  said  upon  it,  I  presume  they  hs^ve  chiefty 
contributed  to  excite  the  bile  of  the  Rev.  prebendary.  How- 
ever he  may  slight  these  venerable  authorities,  yet,  as  I  am 
sure  that  you,  sir,  reverence  them,  I  will  add  two  more  si^qh 
quotations,  on  account  of  their  peculiar  appositeness  to  the  pre- 
sent point,  from  the  great  doctor  of  the  fifth  century,  St.  Au- 
gustine. He  says :  "  All  the  assemblies,  or  rather  divisions, 
who  call  themselves  churches  of  Christ,  but  which,  in  fact,  have 
separated  themselves  from  the  congregation  of  unity,  do  not 
belong  to  the  true  church.  They  might  indeed  belong  to  her, 
if  the  Holy  Ghost  could  be  divided  against  himself:  but  as  this 
is  impossible,  they  do  not  belong  to  her."f  In  like  manner, 
addressing  himself  to  certain  sectaries  of  his  time,  he  says  :  "  If 
our  communion  is  the  church  of  Christ,  yours  is  not  so  :  for  the 
ckurek  of  Christ  is  one,  whichsoever  she  is;  since  it  is  said  of 
her,  My  dove,  my  undefiled  is  one;  she  is  the  only  one,  ((f  her 
mother.**     Cantic.  vi.  9.  >  ,;,)(>  -j       »  y  ii(j  h  >:uj 

But,  setting  aside  Scripture  and  tradition,  let  lis;  consider 
this  matter,  as  bishop  Watson  and  his  associates  afiect  to  do,  on 
the  side  of  natural  reason  alone.  These  modern  philosophers 
think  it  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  Creator  of  the  Universe 
concerns  himself  about  what  we  poor  mortals  do  or  do  not  be- 
lieve ;  or,  as  the  bishop  expresses  himself,  that  he  "  accommo- 
dates his  judgments  to  the  wrangling  of  pedantic  theologues." 
With  equal  plausibility  certain  ancient  philosophers  have  repre- 
sented it  as  unworthy  the  Supreme  Being  to  busy  hi^nself  about 
the  actions  of  such  reptiles  as  we  are  in  his  sight ;  and  thus 
have  opened  a  door  to  an  unrestrained  violation  of  his  etera^i 
and  immutable  laws !  In  opposition  to  both  these  schools,  I 
maintain,  as  the  clear  dictates  of  reason,  that  as  God  is  the  au- 
thor, so  he  is  necessarily  the  supreme  Lord  and  Master  of  a]! 
beings,  with  their  several  powers  and  attributes,  and  therefore 
of  those  noble  and  distinguishing  faculties  of  the  human  soul, 
reason  and  free  will ;  that  he  cannot  divest  himself  of  this  su- 
preme dominion,  or  render  any  being  or  any  faculty  indepen- 
dent of  himself  or  of  his  high  laws,  any  more  than  he  can  ceaRefo 


*  S.  Iron.  1.  ill.  Euseb.  Hist.  I.  iii.         t  De  Verb.  Dom,  Serm.  ii. 


m 


Letter  XVIII. 


be  God ;  that,  of  course,  he  does  and  must  require  our  reason 
to  believe  in  his  divine  revelations,  no  less  than  our  will  to  sub- 
mit to  his  supreme  commands  ;  that  he  is  just,  no  less  than  be 
is  merciful,  and  therefore  that  due  atonement  must  be  made  to 
him  for  every  act  of  disobedience  to  him,  whether  by  disbeliev- 
ing what  he  has  said,  or  by  disobeying  what  he  has  ordered. 
1  advance  a  step  further,  in  opposition  to  the  Hoadley  and 
Watson  school,  by  asserting,  as  a  self-evident  truth,  that  there 
being  a  more  deliberate  and  formal  opposition  to  the  Most 
High,  in  saying,  /  will  not  believe  what  thou  hast  revealed^  than 
in  saying,  I  will  not  practice  what  thou  hast  commanded,  so, 
ceteris  paribus,  WILFUL  infidelity  and  heresy  involve  greater 
guilt  than  immoral  frailty.  -  />  ^ 

You  will  observe,  dear  sir,  that  in  the  prrce.v!*;^  y;  < s,age,  I 
have  marked  the  word  toilful;  because  CiiVhoIic  divines  and 
the  holy  fathers,  at  the  same  time  that  ^hpy  sti  itd y  insist  on  the 
necessity  of  adhering  to  the  doctrine  vm\  c  immuniun  of  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  make  an  express  exception  in  favour  of  what  is 
termed  invincible  ignorance,  which  occurs,  when  persons  out  of 
the  true  church  are  sincerely  and  firmly  resolved,  in  spite  ^f  all 
worldly  allurements  on  one  hand,  and  opposition  to  the  con- 
trary on  the  other,  to  enter  into  it,  if  they  could  find  it  out,  and 
when  they  use  their  best  endeavours  for  this  purpose.  This 
'exception,  in  favour  of  the  invincibly  ignorant,  is  made  by  the 
same  St.  Austin  who  so  strictly  insists  on  the  general  rule.  His 
words  are  these  :  "  The  apostle  has  told  us  to  reject  a  man  that 
M  a  heretic:  but  those  who  defend  a  false  opinion,  withoitit  per- 
tinacious obstinacy,  especially  if  they  have  not  themselves  in- 
vented it,  but  have  derived  it  from  their  parents,  and  who  seek 
the  truth  with  anxious  solicitude,  being  sincerely  disposed  to  re- 
nounce their  error  as  soon  as  they  discover  it,  such  persons  are 
not  to  be  deemed  heretics."*  Our  great  controvertist,  Bellar- 
mine,  asserts,  that  such  Christians,  "  in  virtue  of  the  disposition 
of  their  hearts,  belong  to  the  Catholic  church. "f  ^^ 

Who  the  individual  er+eriorly  of  other  communions,  but  by 
the  sincerity  of  then  d.sn  rations,  belonging  to  the  Catholic 
church,  who,  and  i'.  v  'r,v  r.  :,bersth.  j^  are,  it  is  for  the  Search- 
er of  hearts,  our  future  Judge,  alone  to  determine :  far  be  it 
from  me,  and  from  every  other  Catholic,  to  "  deal  damnation" 
on  any  person  in  particular :  still  thus  much,  on  the  grounds 
already  stated,  I  am  bound,  not  only  in  truth,  but  also  in  chari- 
ty, to  say  and  to  proclaim,  that  nothing  short  of  the  sincere  His- 


*  Epiit  ad  Episc.  Donat. 


t  Contror.  torn.  ii.  lib.  iii.  c.  0. 


W'\^ 


titter  XVin, 


107 


position  in  question,  and  the  actual  use  of  such  means  as  Pro- 
vidence respectively  affords  for  discovering  the  true  church  to 
those  who  are  out  of  it,  can  secure  their  salvation ;  to  say  no- 
thing of  the  Catholic  sacraments  and  other  helps  for  this  pur- 
nose,  of  whl'h  sucli  persons  are  necessarily  deprived. 

I  just  metitioned  the  virtue  of  charity ;  and  I  must  l»ere  add, 
that  on  no  one  poiiii   ire  latitudinariaiis  and  genuine  Catholics 
more  at  variance  than  upon  this.     The  former  consider  them- 
selves charitable,  in  proportion  as  they  pretend  to  open  the 
gate  of  heaven  to  a  greater  number  of  religionists  of  various 
descriptions :  but,  unfortunately,  they  are  not  possessed  of  t  it 
hyi  of  that  gate ;  and  when  they  fancy  they  have  opened  liy 
gate  as  wide  as  possible,  it  still  remains  as  narrow,  and  the  way 
to  it  as  strait  J  as  our  Saviour  describes  these  to  be  in  the  Gospel, 
Mat.  vii.  14.     Thus  they  lull  men  into   a  fatal  indifference 
about  the  truths  of  revelation,  and  a  false  security  as  to  the  • 
salvation.     Genuine  Catholics,  on  the  other  hand,  are  p  rsuac 
ed,  that  as  there  is  but  one   God,  one  faith,  and  one  Oaptism, 
Ephes.  iv.  5.  so  there  is  but  ONE  SHEEP-FOLD,  namely, 
ONE  CHURCH.     Hence,  they  omit  lo  opportunity  of  alarm- 
ing their  wandering  brethren  on  the  danger  they  are  in,  and  of 
bringing  them  into  this  one  fold  of  the  one  Shepherd^  John  x.  IG, 
To  form  a  right  judgment  in  this  case,  we  need  but  ask,  Is  it 
charitable  or  uncharitable  in  the  physician,  to  warn  his  patient 
of  his  danger  in  eating  unwholesome  food  ?     Again,  is  it  cha- 
ritable or  .'mcharitable  in  the  watchman  who  sees  the  sword  com" 
ing  to  sound  the  trumpet  of  alarm  ?  Ezech.  xxxiii.  G. 

But  to  conclude,  the  Rev.  prebendary,  with  most  modern 
Protestants,  may  continue  to  assign  his  latitudinarianism,  which 
admits  all  religions  to  be  right,  thus  dividing  truth,  that  is  essen- 
tially indivisible*,  as  a  mark  of  the  truth  of  his  sect ;  in  the 
meantime,  the  Catholic  church  ever  will  maintain,  as  she  ever 
has  maintained,  that  there  is  only  one  faith  and  one  true  church, 
and  Ihat  this  her  uncompromising  firmness,  in  retaining  and 
promising  this  unity,  is  the  first  mark  of  her  being  this  church. 
The  subject  admits  of  being  illustrated  by  the  veil  known  judg 
meut  of  the  wisest  of  men.  Two  women  dwelt  together,  each 
of  whom  had  an  infant  son;  but,  one  of  these  dying,  they  both 
J^ontended  for  possession  of  the  living  child,  and  carried  their 
cause  to  the  tribunal  of  Solomon.  He,  finding  them  equally 
contentious,  ordered  the  infant  they  disputed  about  to  be  cut  in 
two,  and  one-half  of  it  to  be  given  to  each  of  them ;  which  order 
the  pretended  mother  agreed  to,  exclaiming.  Let  it  be  neither 
wfjie  nor  thine,  hut  divide  it.     Then  spake  the  woman,  whose  the, 


108 


Letter  XIX. 


t 


living  child  was,  unto  the  king;  for  her  bowels  yearned  upon 
her  son,  and  she  said,  O,  my  lord,  give  her  the  living  child,  and 
%n  no  wise  slay  it.  Then  the  king  ansivered  and  said.  Give  her 
the  living  child,  and  in  no  wise  slay  ii  ;  SHE  IS  THE  MO. 
TUER  THEREOF!    1  Kings  iii.  26, 27. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  &c. 
>'^-  ■'■!■•■■  J.  M. 


U<!(l 


:       LETTER  XIX. 
To  JAMES  BROWJV,  Esq.  Sfc. 

OJV  SANCTITY  OF  DOCTRINE. 

Deah  Sir, 

The  second  mark  by  which  you,  as  well  as  I,  describe  the 
church  in  which  you  believe,  when  you  repeat  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  is  that  of  SANCTITY :  we,  each  of  us,  say,  /  believe 
in  the  HOLY  Catholic  church.  Reason  itself  tells  us,  that  the 
God  of  purity  and  sanctity  could  not  institute  a  religion  desti< 
lute  of  this  character ;  and  the  inspired  apostle  assures  us,  that 
Christ  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it ;  that  he  might 
sanctify  and  cleanse  it,  with  the  washing  of  water,  by  the  Word; 
that  he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  rvt  having 
spot  or  wrinkle.  Ephes.  v.  25.  27.  The  comparison  which  I 
am  going  to  institute  between  the  Catholic  church  and  the 
leading  Protestant  societies  in  the  article  of  sanctity,  will  be 
made  on  these  four  heads  :  1  st.  The  doctrine  of  holiness  ;  2dl). 
The  means  of  holiness ;  3dly.  The  fruits  of  holiness ;  and, 
lastly.  The  divine  testimony  of  holiness. 

To  consider,  first,  the  doctrine  of  the  chief  Protestant  com' 
munions  :  this  is  well  known  to  have  been  originally  grounded 
in  the  pernicious  and  impious  principles,  that  God  is  the  author 
and  necessitating  cause,  ns  well  as  the  everlasting  punisher,  of 
Rin ;  that  man  has  no  free  will  to  avoid  sin ;  and  that  jiisti- 
ficatica  and  salvation  are  the  effects  ol'  on  enthusiastic  per- 
suasion, under  the  name  of  faith,  that  the  person  is  actunlly 
justified  and  saved,  without  any  real  belief  in  the  rcvcalod 
truths,  witliout  hope,  charity,  repentance  for  sin,  benevo- 
lence to  our  fellow-creatures,  loyalty  to  our  king  and  coun- 
try, or  any  other  virtues,  all  wliich  were  censured  by  the  first 
reformers,  as  they  are  by  the  strict  Metiiodists  still,  under  the 


name 


Letter  XIX. 


109 


yearned  upon 
ing  chiidy  and 
mid.  Give  her 
S  THE  MO. 

ir,  &LC. 

J.  M. 


I,  describe  the 

the  Apostles' 

,  say,  I  believt 

ills  us,  that  the 

religion  desti- 

ssures  us,  that 

that  he  might 

by  the  Word', 

'chf  rvt  having 

u'ison  which  I 

lurch  and  the 

nctityy  will  he 

oliness ;  2dlj. 

loliness ;  and, 

rotestant  corn- 
ally  grounded 
d  is  the  author 
g  punisher,  of 
Hid  that  justl- 
tluisiastic  per- 
on  is  actually 
the  revealed 
'  sin,  bencvo- 
ing  and  couii- 
rd  by  the  first 
still,  nndi'v  the 


name  of  works^  and  by  many  of  them  declared  to  be  even  hurt- 
ful to  salvation.  It  is  asserted,  in  the  Harmony  of  Confessions, 
a  celebrated  work,  published  in  the  early  times  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, that  "  all  the  confessions  of  the  Protestant  churches  teach 
this  primary  article  (of  justification)  with  a  holy  consent  ;** 
which  seems  to  imply,  says  archdeacon  Blackburn,  "  that  this 
was  the  single  article  in  which  they  all  did  agree."*  Bishop 
Warburton  expressly  declares,  that  "  Protestantism  was  built 
upon  it  :"f  and  yet,  "  what  impiety  can  be  more  execrable," 
we  may  justly  exclaim  with  Dr.  Balguy,  "  than  to  make  God 
a  tyrant !" J  And  what  lessons  can  be  taught  more  immoral, 
than  that  men  are  not  required  to  repent  of  their  sins  to  obtain 
their  forgiveness,  nor  to  love  either  God  or  man  to  be  sure  of 
their  salvation ! 

To  begin  with  the  father  of  the  Reformation,  Luther  teaches 
that  "  God  works  the  evil  in  us  as  well  as  the  good,"  and  that 
"  the  great  perfection  of  faith  consists  in  believing  God  to  be 
just,  although,  by  his  own  will,  he  necessarily  renders  us  worthy 
(if  dttiimntioa,  so  as  to  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  the  torments  of  the 
vmcrable."'^  Again  he  says,  and  repeats  it,  in  his  work  De 
Servo  Arbitrio,  and  his  other  works,  that  "  free  will  is  an  empty 
name  ;"  adding,  "  If  God  foresaw  that  Judas  would  be  a  trai- 
tor, Judas  necessarily  became  a  traitor  :  nor  was  it  in  his  power 
to  be  otherwise."||  "  Man's  will  is  like  a  horse  :  if  God  sit 
upon  it,  it  goes  as  God  would  have  it ;  if  the  devil  ride  it,  it 
iroes  as  the  devil  would  have  it :  nor  can  the  will  choose  its  ri- 
der, but  each  of  them  strives  which  shall  get  possession  of  it."ir 
Conformably  to  this  system  of  necessity  he  teaches,  "  Let  this 
be  your  rule  in  interpreting  the  Scriptures  ;  whenever  thpv 
rommand  any  good  work,  do  you  understand  that  they  forbid 
it,  because  you  cannot  perforin  it."**  "  Unless  faith  be  without 
the  least  good  work,  it  does  not  justify  :  it  is  not  faith. "ff  "  See 
how  rich  a  Christian  i?,  since  ho  cannot  lose  his  soul,  do  what 
lie  will,  unless  he  refuses  to  believe  :  for  no  sin  can  damn  him 
but  unbelicf."JJ  liUtlier's  favourite  disciple  and  bottle  com- 
panion, Amsdorf,  whom  he  made  bishop  of  Nauburg,  wrote  a 
book,  expressly  lo  prove  that  good  works  are  not  only  unnecet- 
mry,  but  that  they  are  hurtful  to  salvation ;  for  which  doctrine 

•  Archilciiron  IJIaokhiirn'ii  f'onfpssional,  p.  16. 
t  Doctrine  of  Gru-c,  cited  by  Overton,  p.  31. 
I  Discoiirno!",  p.  59. 

♦  Luth.  Opera,  cd.  Wittcmb.  torn.  ii.  fol.  437. 
II  Dr  Scrv.  Arbit.  fol.  4ti().  %  Ibid.  torn.  ii. 
••  Ibitl.  torn.  ill.  fol.  i7l.                        1+  Ibid.  torn,  i.fol.  361. 
\\  Do  Captiv.  liabyl,  torn.  ii.  (ol.  74.  ^    . 


no 


Letter  XIX, 


I 


& 


'! 


^i 


he  quotes  his  master's  works  at  large.*  Luther  himself  tnat,o 
so  gieat  account  of  this  part  of  his  system  which  denies  free 
will,  and  the  utihty  and  possibility  of  good  works,  that,  writing 
against  Erasmus  upon  it,  he  affirms  it  to  be  the  hinge  on  which 
the  whole  turns,  declaring  the  questions  about  the  Pope's  su- 
premacy,  purgatory,  and  indulgences,  to  be  trifles,  rather  than 
subjects  of  controversy.f  In  a  former  letter  I  quoted  a  re- 
markable passage  from  this  patriarch  of  Protestantism,  in  which 
he  pretends  to  prophesy  that  this  article  of  his,  shall  subsist  for 
ever,  in  spite  of  all  the  emperors,  Popes,  kings,  and  devils; 
concluding  thus  :  "  If  they  attempt  to  weaken  this  article,  may 
hell-fire  be  their  reward  ;  let  this  be  taken  for  an  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  made  to  me,  Martin  Luther." 

However,  in  spite  of  these  prophecies  and  curses  of  their  fa. 
tijer,  the  Lutherans  in  general,  as  1  have  before  noticed,  shock 
ed  at  the  impiety  of  this  his  primary  principle,  soon  abandoned 
it,  and  even  went  over  to  the  opposite  impiety  of  Semi-pelagian 
ism,  which  attributes  to  man  the  first  motion,  or  cause  of  con- 
version and  sanctification.  Still  it  will  always  be  true  to  s.ij, 
that  Lutheranism  itself  originated  in  the  impious  doctrine  de- 
scribed above.  J  As  to  the  second  branch  of  the  Reformation, 
Calvinism,  where  it  has  not  sunk  into  Latitudinurianism  or  So- 
cinianisni,§  it  is  still  distinguished  by  this  impious  system.  To 
give  a  few  passages  from  the  works  of  this  second  patriarch  of 
Protestants,  Calvin  says :  "  God  requires  nothing  of  us  but 
faith  ;  he  asks  nothing  of  us,  but  that  wc  believe."  ||  "  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  assert  that  the  will  of  God  makes  all  things  nores- 
saty."^  "  It  is  plainly  wrong  to  seek  for  any  other  cause  of 
damnation  than  the  hidden  counsels  of  God."**  "  Men,  by  the 
free  will  of  God,  without  any  demerit  of  their  own,  are  predes 
tinated  to  eternal  death. "ff  It  is  useless  to  cite  the  disciples  of 
Calvin,  Beza,  Zanchius,  &tc.  as  they  nil  stick  close  to  the  doc* 
trine  of  their  master,  still  I  will  give  the  following  remarKable 
pHSfage  from  the  works  of  the  renowned  Bern. :  "  Faith  is  pe- 
culiar to  the  elect,  and  consists  in  an  absolute  dependence  each 
one  has  on  the  certainty  of  his  election,  which  implies  an  assu* 
ranee  of  his  perseverance.     Hence  we  have  it  in  our  power  to 

•  See  Brierley's  Protest.  Apol.  0P3.  See  nlso  Mofhcim  and  Maclaine,  Ec- 
cleP.  Hist.  vol.  vi.  pp.  324, 32H. 

t  See  the  passage,  exlnictml  from  the  work  Dr.  Serro  .Irbitrio,  in  Leften 
to  a  Prebendary,  Loiter  V. 

X  Bossuet's  Vuriat.  1.  viii.  pp.  2J,  54,  &c.  Mosheim  tnid  MnolHiiic,  vol.  v.  p. 
446,  A:c.  {  Ibid.  p.  458. 

ICalv.  in  JoHn.  vi.       Hon.  i.  Galnt.  ii. 
luitit.  l.iii.  c.3*-«.  ••Ibid.  ft  Ibid. 


r  hifrtielf  mat.o 
lich  denies  free 
ts,  tliat,  writing 
hinge  on  which 
t  the  Pope's  su- 
les,  rather  than 
I  quoted  a  re- 
intism,  in  which 
shall  subsist  for 
5s,  and  devils; 
his  article,  may 
m  inspiration  of 

rses  of  their  k- 
noticed,  shock- 
>oon  abandoned 
'  Semi-pelagian 
r  cause  of  coii- 
be  true  to  say, 
3US  doctrine  de- 
»e  Reformation, 
Ltrianisni  or  So- 
)Us  system.    To 
ind  patriarch  of 
hing  of  us  b(it 
?."||    "  I  do  not 
ill  things  nrres 
other  cause  of 
"  Men,  by  the 
>wn,  are  prcdes- 
the  disciples  of 
lose  to  the  doc 
ing  remarkable 
"  Faith  is  pc 
ependencc  each 
implies  an  assu 
n  our  power  to 

and  Maclaine,  Ec- 

Irbilrio,  in  Letten 

MnclHiiic,  vol.v.  p. 
458. 

tt  IWJ. 


Letter  XIX. 


know  whether  we  be  predestinated  to  salvation,  not  by  fancy, 
but  by  conclusions  as  certain  as  if  we  had  ascended  into  heaven 
to  hear  it  from  the  mouth  of  God  himself."*  And  is  there  a 
man  that,having  being  worked  up  by  such  dogmatizing,  or  by  his 
own  fancy,  to  this  full  assurance  of  indefeasible  predestination 
and  impeccability,  who,  under  any  violent  temptation  to  break 
the  laws  of  God  or  man,  can  be  expected  to  resist  it ! 

After  all  the  pains  which  have  been  taken  by  modern  divines 
of  the  church  of  England  to  clear  her  from  this  stain  of  Calvin- 
ism, nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  she  was,  at  first,  deeply 
infected  with  it.     The  42  Articles  of  Edward  VI.  and  the  39 
Articles  of  Elizabeth  are  evidently  grounded  in  that  doctrine,f 
which,  however,  Is  more  expressly  inculci  ted  in  the  Lambeth 
Articles,!  approved  of  by  the  two  archbishops,  the  bishop  of 
London,  &ic.  in  1595,  "whose  testimony,"  says  the  renowned 
Fuller,  "  is  an  infallible  evidence,  what  was  the  general  and  r^ 
ceived  doctrine  of  the  church  of  England  in  that  age  about  the 
forenamed  controversies."'^  In  the  History  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  by  this  author,  a  strict  churchman,  we  have  evident 
proof  that  no  other  doctrine  but  that  of  Calvin  was  so  much  as 
tolerated  by  the  established  church,  at  the  time  I  have  been 
speaking  of.     "  One  W.  Barret,  fellow  of  ConvJlo  and  Cains 
college,  preached  ad  Clerum  for  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  divi- 
nity, wherein  he  vented  such  doctrines,  for  which  he  was  sum- 
moned, six  days  after,  before  the  consistory  of  doctors,  and 
there  enjoined  the  following  retraction: — 1st,  I  said  that,  no 
man  is  so  strongly  underpropped  by  the  certainty  of  faith^  as  to 
he  assured  of  his  salvation :  but,  now,  I  protest,  before  God, 
that  they  which  are  justified  by  faith,  are  assured  of  their  salva- 
tion  with  the  certainty  of  faith.     3dly,  I  said  that,  certainty  con- 
CFrning  the  time  to  come  is  proud:  but  now  I  proteat  that  justi^ 
ficd  faith  can  never  be  rooted  out  of  the  minds  of  tlie  faithful. 
fithly,  Those  words  escaped  me  in  my  sermon  :  /  believe  against 
Calinn,  Peter  Martyr,  S^c.  that  sin  is  the  true,  proper,  and  first 
tnusc  of  reprobation.     Hut,  now,  being  bettor  instructed,  1  say 
that  the  reprobation  of  the  wicked  is  from  everlasting  ;  and  I  am 

•  Exposit.  cited  hv  Rossuet,  Variat.  1.  xiv.  pp.  f),  7. 

f  Pnrtiriiliirly  tlin"lUh,  12tli,  KUh,  and  I7tli  of  tho  39  Articles,  nylheleno: 
pfllio  l:Uli,  atiuiiix  the  3!>,  it  would  uppeiir,  lliat  (ho  patimceof  J^ocratcs,  thu 
integrity  of  Arislidos,  the  coutinriicc  of  S(i[)io,  and  the  pnlrmtismof  Cato  "had 
the  niitnrp  of  cin,"  J)rrausr  Ihry  wore  ''works  done  before  the  grace  of  Christ." 

t  ^'lllhM•'»C;hlM•.hlli^t(n•y,  p. '230. 

i  Fu1Um%  p.  2'3'2. — N.  IJ.  On  tho  point  in  qiirntion,  Dr.  Hey,  vol.  iv.  p.  fi, 
quotes  tlie  well-known  h|i(  rch  of  tlic  j;rcat  lonl  (Jhatham  ia  parliamont :  **  Wo 
luT«  aCulvinistic  crucd,  and  uu  Arminiau  cUtj^y." 

13 


112 


Letter  XIX. 


■^'■f^ 


t    ■' 


of  the  same  mind  concerning  election,  as  the  church  ofEngtam 
teacheth  in  the  Articles  of  faith.     Last  of  all,  I  uttered  these 
words  rashly  against  Calvin,  a  man  that  hath  very  well  deserved 
of  the  church  of  God :  that  he  durst  presume  to  lift  himself  above 
the  High  God ;  by  which  words  I  have  done  great  injury  to 
that  learned  and  right-godly  man.     I  have  also  uttered  many 
bitter  words  against  Peter  Martyr,  Theodore  Beza,  he.  being 
the  lights  and  ornaments  of  our  church,  calling  them  by  the 
odious  name  of  Calvinists,  fee."*   Another  proof  of  the  former 
intolerance  of  the  church  of  England,  with  respect  to  that  mo* 
derate  system,  which  all  her  present  dignitaries  hold,  is  the 
order  drawn  up  by  the  archbishops  and  bishops  in  1566,  for 
government  to  act  upon,  namely,  that  "  All  incorrigible  free 
will  men,  &c.  should  be  sent  into  some  castle  into  North  Wales, 
or  at  Walingford,  there  to  live  of  their  own  labour,  and  no  one 
to  be  suflered  to  resort  to  them,  but  their  keepers,  until  they  be 
found  to  repent  their  errors."f     A  still  stronger,  as  well  a» 
more  authentic  evidence  of  the  former  Calvinism  of  the  English 
church  is  furnished  by  the  history  and  acts  of  the  general  Cal- 
vinistic  Synod  of  Dort,  held  against  Vorstius,  the  successor  of 
Arminius,  who  had  endeavoured  to  modify  that  impious  system. 
Our  James  I.  who  had  the  principal  share  in  assembling  this 
Synod,  was  so  indignant  at  the  attempt,  that  in  a  letter  to  the 
States  of  Holland,  he  termed  Vorstius,  "  the  enemy  of  God," 
and  insisted  on  his  being  expelled,  declaring,  at  the  same  time, 
that  "  it  was  his  own  duty,  in  quality  of  defender  of  the  faith, 
with  which  title,"  he  said,  "  God  had  h«  noured  him,  to  extirpate 
those  cursed  heresies,  and  to  drive   :  liem  to  hell !"  J     To  be 
brief,  he  sent  Carlton  and  Davenport,  the  former  being  bishop 
of  Landaff,  the  latter  of  Salisbury,  with  two  other  dignitaries  of 
the  church  of  England,  and  Bancancjual,  on  the  part  of  the 
church  of  Srotland,  to  the  Synod,  whore  they  appeared  auiong 
the  foremost  in  condonniiiig  the  yVrminians,  and  in  defining  tiiat 
"  God  gives  true  and  lively  faith  to  those  whom  he  resolves  to 
withdraw  from  the  common  damnation,  and  to  them  alone ;  and 
that  the  true  faithful,  by  atrocious  crimcsj  do  not  forfeit  thegract 
(f  adoption  and  the  state  nfjustifwation  !"^ 
It  might  have  been  expected  that  the  decrees  of  this  Synod 


•  Fuller's  Hist,  of  Univ.  of  Cnmb.  p.  ir.O.— N.  H.  It  will  he  evident  to  tlie 
reader,  th'tl  have  (jrea'ly  iibriiljjcd  liiin  curious  reciinlalioii,  which  wus  lot 
loiiR  to  l)n  quoted  at  lonsfh. 

f  Strypp's  Annals  of  ilcform.  vol.  i.  p.  214. 

\   Hi!<t.  Altrr;:.  do(icrariI  IJrHmlt,  to»n.  i.  p.  417.  loua.ii.  p.  3. 

t  liotsuct's  Vuriat.  vol.  ii.  ])[).  2'JI,  294,  3U4. 


vould 

ffheres 

the  cor 

the  det 

hers  o 

I'rtssing 

the  clu 

lirts,  ar 

111  like 

dists,  V 

valists, 

impiou; 

first  me 

crimes 

of  a  la 

Aftei 

consists 

concert 

articles 

(iotij  dci 

is  admi 

Protesti 

to  Sco 

Scotlan 

as  high 

the  citi< 

which  ] 

thi'ougl 

a  learn( 

with  So 

valence 

the  pro 

subject. 

pronoui 

"damn 

former 

cstahlis 

niimero 

in  this 

James  1 


Letter  XIX. 


113 


jiould  have  greatly  strengthened  the  system  of  Calvhiism ; 
ffhereas  it  is  from  the  termination  of  it,  which  corresponds  with 
the  concluding  part  of  the  reign  of  James  I.  that  we  are  to  date 
the  decline  of  it,  especially  m  England.*  Still  greater  num- 
l)ers  of  its  adherents,  under  the  name  of  Calvinists,  and  pro- 
I'rtssing,  not  without  reason,  to  maintain  the  original  tenets  of 
the  church  of  England,  subsist  in  this  country,  and  their  minis- 
ters arrogate  to  themselves  the  title  of  Evangelical  Prefpchers, 
III  like  manner  the  numerous  and  diversified  societies  of  Metho- 
dists, whether  Wesle^'ans  or  Whitfieldites,  Moravians  or  Revi. 
valists,  New  Itinerants  or  Jumpers,f  are  all  partisans  of  the 
impious  and  immoral  system  of  Calvin.  The  founder  of  the 
lirst  mentioned  branch  of  these  sectaries  witnessed  the  follies  and 
crimes  which  flowed  from  it,  and  tried  to  reform  them  by  means 
of  a  laboured  but  groundless  distinction.  J 

After  all,  the  first  and  most  sacred  branch  of  holy  doctrine 
consists  in  those  articles  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  reveal 
concerning  his  own  divine  nature  and  operations,  namely,  the 
articles  of  the  unity  and  trinity  of  the  Deity,  and  of  the  incarna- 
tion, death,  and  atonement  of  the  consubstantial  Son  of  God.     It 
is  admitted,  that  these  mysteries  have  been  abandoned  by  the 
Protestants  of  Geneva,  Holland,  and  Germany.     With  respect 
to  Scotland,  a  well  informed  writer  says :  "  It  is  certain  that 
Scotland,  like  Geneva,  has  run  from  high  Calvinism  to  almost 
as  high  Arianism  or  Socinianism  :  the  exceptions,  especially  in 
the  cities,  are  few."     It  will  be  gathered  from  many  passages, 
which  I  have  cited  in  my  former  letters,  how  widely  extended 
throughout  the  established  church  is  that  "  tacit  reform,"  which 
a  learned  professor  of  its  theology  signifies  to  be  the  same  thing 
with  Socinianism.     A  judgme:.t  may  also  be  formed  of  the  pre- 
valence of  this  system,  by  the  act  of  July  21,  1813,  exempting 
the  professors  of  it  from  the  penalties  to  which  they  were  before 
subject.     And  yet  this  system,  as  I  have  before  observed,  is 
pronounced  by  the  church  of  England,  in  her  last  made  canons. 
"  damnable  and  cursed  heresy,  being  a  complication  of  man}' 
fdrmcr  heresies  atid  contrariant  to  the  articles  of  religion  now 
established  in  the  church  of  England. "§     I  say  nothing  of  the 
numerous  Protestant  victims,  who  have  been  burnt  at  the  stake 
in  this  country,  during  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI,  Elizabeth,  and 
James  I.  fur  the  errors  in  question,  except  to  censure  the  incon- 


•  Moshiom  and  Marlainff,  vol.  v.  pp.  3G9,  389. 
t  See  Evans's  SUotch  of  all  Religions. 
f  Postscript,  p.  M. 


i  Conftit.  anilCHn.  A. 


D.  1640. 
P 


114 


Letter  XIX, 


sistency  and  cruelty  of  the  proceeding :  all  that  I  had  occasion 
to  show  was,  that  most  Protestants,  and,  among  the  rest,  those 
of  the  English  church,  instead  of  uniformly  maintaining  at  all 
times  the  same  holy  doctrine,  heretofore  abetted  an  impious  and 
immoral  system,  namely,  Calvinism,  which  they  have  since  been 
constrained  to  reject,  and  that  they  have  now  compromised  with 
impieties,  which  formerly  they  condemned  as  "  damnable  here- 
sies," and  punished  with  fire  and  faggot. 

But  it  is  time  to  speak  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church. 
If  this  was  once  holy,  namely,  in  the  apostolic  age,  it  is  holy 
still ;  because  the  church  never  changes  her  doctrine,  nor  suf- 
fers any  persons  in  her  communion  to  change  it,  or  to  question 
any  part  of  it.     Hence,  the  adorable  mysteries  of  the  trinity, 
the  incarnation,  &:c.  taught  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  de- 
fined by  the  four  first  general  councils,  are  now  as  firmly  be- 
lieved by  every  real  Catholic,  throughout  her  whole  commu- 
nion, as  they  were  when  those  councils  were  held.     Concerning 
the  article  of  man's  justification,  so  far  from  holding  the  impious 
and  absurd  doctrines  imputed  to  her  by  her  unnatural  children, 
(who  sought  for  a  pretext  to  desert  her,)  she  rejects,  she  con- 
demns, she  anathematizes  them  !  It  is  then  false,  and  notorious- 
ly false,  that  Catholics  believe,  or  in  any  age  did  believe,  that 
they  could  justify  themselves  by  their  own  proper  merits ;  or 
that  they  can  do  the  least  good,  in  the  order  of  salvation,  with- 
out the  grace  of  God,  merited  for  them  by  Jesus  Christ ;  or  that 
we  can  deserve  this  grace,  by  any  thing  we  have  the  power  of 
doing ;  or  that  leave  to  commit  sin,  or  even  the  pardon  of  any 
sin,  which  has  been  committed,  can  be  purchased  of  any  person 
whomsoever;  or  that  the  essence  of  religion  and  our  hopes  ot 
salvation  consist  in  forms  and  ceremonies,  or  in  other  exterior 
things.   These,  and  such  other  calumnies,  or  rather  blasphemies, 
however  frequently  or  confidently  repeated  in  popular  sermons 
and  controversial  tracts,  there  is  reason  to  think  arc  not  really 
believed  by  any  Protestant  of  learning.*    In  fact,  what  ground 
is  there  for  maintaining  them  ?    Have  tlicy  been  defined  by  our 
councils  ^  No  :  they  have  been  condemned  by  them,  and  par- 
ticularly by  that  of  Trent.    Are  they  taught  in  our  catechisms, 


If 


•  The  Norrisi'an  Professor,  Dr.  Hey,  says :  "  The  reformed  have  departed 
so  much  from  the  rigour  of  their  doctrine  about  faith,  and  the  Romanists  from 
theirs  about  good  works,  that  there  seems  very  little  diflerenre  between  them." 
L«ct.  vol.  iii.  p.  262.  True,  most  of  the  reformers,  after  building  their  religion 
on  faith  alone,  have  now  gone  into  the  opjiosite  heresy  of  Ptliif^ianism,  or  nt 
least  Semi'Pelagianism :  but  Catholics  hold  exactly  the  same  tenets  rpganlirf; 
pood  works,  which  they  ever  held,  and  which  were  always  very  different  from 
Wltat  Dr.  Iley  describes  thcni  to  have  been.     Vol.  iii.  p.  261. 


Letter  XIX. 


115 


had  occasion 
the  rest,  those 
itaining  at  all 
)  impious  and 
ive  since  been 
}romised  with 
imnable  here- 


tholic  church. 

'.,  it  is  holy 
rine,  nor  sul'- 
or  to  question 
of  the  trinity, 
)stles,  and  de- 
as  firmly  be- 
r'hole  commu- 

Concerning 
ig  the  impious 
tural  children, 
ects,  she  con- 
and  notorious- 
1  believe,  that 
Der  merits ;  or 
ilvation,  with- 
Jhrist ;  or  that 
I  the  power  of 
Dardon  of  any 
of  any  person 
[  our  hopes  ot 
other  exterior 
r  blasphemies, 
•pular  sermons 
arc  not  really 
,  what  ground 
[lefincd  by  our 
hem,  and  par- 
ur  catechisms, 

cd  have  departcJ 
le  Romanists  from 
D  between  them." 
.ling  their  religion 
•e/o^'tanwm,  or  nt 
!  tenets  reRunlirf; 
rery  tliffcrentfroiii 


such  as  tlje  Catechismus  ad  Parochos^  the  General  Catechism  of 
Ireland,  the  Douay  Catechism ;  or  in  our  books  of  devotion, 
for  example,  those  written  by  an  a  Kempis,  a  Sales,  a  Granada, 
and  a  Challoner  ?  No  :  the  contrary  doctrine  is,  in  these,  and 
in  our  other  books,  uniformly  maintained.  In  a  word,  the  Ca- 
tholic church  teaches,  and  ever  has  taught,  her  children  to  trust 
for  mercy,  grace  and  salvation,  to  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
nevertheless  she  asserts  that  we  have  free  will,  and  that  this 
being  prevented  by  divine  grace,  can  and  must  co-operate  to 
our  Justification  by  faith,  sorrow  for  our  sins,  and  other  corres- 
ponding acts  of  virtue,  which  God  will  not  fail  to  bestow  upon 
us,  if  we  do  not  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  them.  Thus  is 
all  honour  and  merit  ascribed  to  the  Creator,  and  every  defect 
and  sin  attributed  to  the  creature.  The  Catholic  church  incul- 
cates moreover,  the  indispensable  necessity  of  humility  as  a  vir- 
tue, by  which,  says  St.  Bernard,  "from  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
ourselves  we  become  little  in  our  own  estimation,"  as  the 
ground-work  of  all  other  virtues.  I  mention  this  Catholic  les- 
son, in  particular,  because  however  strongly  it  is  enforced  by 
Christ  and  his  disciples,  it  seems  to  be  quite  overlooked  by 
Protestants,  insomuch  that  they  are  perpetually  boasting  in 
their  speeches  and  writings  of  the  opposite  vice,  pride.  In  like 
manner,  it  appears  from  the  above  mentioned  catechisms  and 
spiritual  works,  what  pains  our  church  bestows  in  regulating 
the  interior  no  less  than  the  exterior  of  her  children,  by  re- 
pressing every  thought  or  idea,  contrary  to  religion  or  morali- 
ty ;  of  which  matter,  I  perceive  little  or  no  notice  is  taken  in 
the  catechisms  and  tracts  of  Protestants.  Finally,  the  Catholic 
church  insists  upon  the  necessity  of  being  perfect  even  as  our 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect,  Mat.  v.  48,  by  such  an  entire  subju- 
(lation  of  our  passions  ai\d  conformity  of  our  will  with  that  of 
God,  that  our  conversation  may  be  in  heaven,  while  we  are  yet 
livjr.'r  here  on  earth.     Philip,  v.  20. 

I  am,  &£c. 

J.  M. 


) 


POSTSCRIPT  TO  LETTER  XIX. 

[The  Life  of  the  late  Rev.  John  Wesley,  founder  of  the  Me- 
thodists, which  has  been  written  by  Dr.  Whitehead,  Dr.  Coke, 
and  others  of  his  disciples,  shows,  in  the  cleai .  ^t  light,  the  er- 
rors and  contradictions  to  which  even  a  sincere  and  religious 
13* 


U6 


Letter  XIX. 


^/■l 


mind  is  subject,  that  is  destitute  of  the  chie  to  revealed  truth, 
the  living  authority  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  also  the  impiety 
and  inimorality  of  Calvinism.  At  first,  that  is  to  say,  in  the 
year  1729,  Wesley  was  a  modern  churcli  of  England  man,  dis- 
tinguished from  other  students  at  Oxford  by  nothing  but  a  more 
strict  ajid  methodical  form  of  life.  Of  course  his  doctrine  then 
was  the  prevailing  doctrine  of  that  church  ;  this  he  preached  in 
England  and  carried  with  him  to  America,  whither  he  sailed  to 
convert  the  Indians.  Returning,  however,  to  England  in  1733, 
he  writes  as  follows  :  "  For  many  years  I  have  been  tossed 
about  by  various  winds  of  doctrine,"  the  particulars  of  which, 
and  of  the  difierent  schemes  of  salvation,  whicli  he  was  inclinetl 
to  trust  in,  he  details.  Falling,  at  last,  however,  into  the  hands 
of  Peter  Bohler  and  his  Moravian  brethreii,  who  met  in  FcUcr- 
lane,  he  became  a  warm  proselyte  to  their  system,  declariiip;  at 
the  same  time,  with  respect  to  his  past  religion,  that  h'uhcrto  h 
had  been  a  Papist  without  knowing  it.  We  may  Judge  of  his 
ardour  by  his  exclamation  when  Peter  Bohler  left  England: 
**  O  what  a  work  hath  God  begun  since  his  (Bohler's)  coming 
to  England ;  such  a  one  as  shall  never  come  to  an  end  till  hea- 
ven and  earth  shall  pass  away,"  To  cement  his  union  with  this 
society,  and  to  instruct  himself  more  fully  in  its  mysteries,  lie 
made  a  journey  to  Hernhuth  in  Moravia,  which  is  the  chief  seat 
of  the  United  Brethren,  It  was  whilst  he  was  a  Moravian, 
naiwjly,  "  on  the  24th  of  May,  1736,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  be. 
'ore  nine  in  the  evening,"  that  John  Wesley,  by  his  own  ac- 
count, was  "  saved  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  This  al! 
important  event  happened  "  at  a  meeting  house,  in  Alder|i;nte- 
street,  while  a  person  was  reading  Luther's  Preface  to  the 
Galatians."  Nevertheless,  though  he  had  profesKed  such  deep 
obligations  to  the  Moravians,  he  soon  fouixl  out  and  declared 
that  theirs  was  not  the  riaht  wax  to  heaven.  In  fatt  he  f()nn(| 
them,  and  "  nine  parts  in  ten  of  tlie  Methodists"  who  adlicrcil 
to  them,  "  swallowed  up  in  the  dead  sea  of  stillness,  oj)posinL,^ 
the  ordinances,  namely,  prayer,  reading  the  Sorijituro,  freiinnit- 
ing  the  sacrament  and  public  worship,  selling  tlnMr  l>ibles,  kv. 
in  order  to  rely  more  fully  '  on  the  blood  of  the  Fianib.'  "  In 
khort,  Wesley  abandoned  the  Moravian  coiuiexion,  and  sot  up 
that  which  is  properly  his  own  religion,  as  it  is  detailed  by 
Nightingale,  in  his  Portrait  of  Methodism.  This  ha})penrd  in 
1740,  soon  after  which  he  broke  oft*  from  his  rival  Whitfield: 
in  fact  they  maintained  quite  opposite  doctrines  on  several  es- 
sential points  :  still  the  tenet  of  instantaneous  justification,  with- 
out repentance,  charity,  or  other  good  works,  and  the  actual 


Letter  XIX. 


117 


OSS,  oj)|)(isiiiir 
lire,  fretjiuMil- 


1,   and  set  ui) 


feeling  and  certainty  of  this  and  of  everlasting  happiness,  con- 
tinued to  be  the  essential  and  vital  principles  of  Wesley's  sys- 
cm,  as  they  arc  of  the  Calvinistic  sects  in  general  j  till  having 
witnessed  the  horrible  impieties  and  cri  "s  to  which  it  conduct- 
ed, he,  at  a  conference  or  synod  of  his  .reachers,  in  1744,  de- 
clared that  he  and  they  had  "  leaned  too  much  to  Calvinism  and 
Antinomianism."  In  answer  to  the  question  "  What  is  Antino- 
mlanism?"  Wesley,  in  the  same  conference,  answers,  "  Ths 
doctrine  which  makes  void  the  law  through  faith.  Its  main 
pillars  are  that  Christ  abolished  the  moral  law  ;  that,  therefore, 
Christians  are  not  obliged  to  keep  it ;  that  Christian  liberty,  is 
liberty  from  obeying  tlie  commands  of  God ;  that  it  is  bondage 
to  do  a  thing  because  it  is  commanded,  or  forbear  it  because  it 
\s  forbidden ;  that  a  believer  is  not  obliged  to  use  the  ordi 
nances  of  God,  or  to  do  good  works,  that  a  preacher  ought  not 
to  exhort  to  good  works,"  he.  See  here  the  essential  morality 
of  the  religion  which  Wesley  had  hitherto  followed  and  preacl>- 
cd,  as  drawn  by  his  own  pen,  and  which  still  continues  to  be 
preached  by  the  other  sects  of  Methodists  !  We  shall  hereafter 
866  in  what  manner  he  changed  it.  The  very  mention,  how- 
ever, of  a  change  in  this  ground-work  of  Methodism,  inflamed 
all  the  Methodist  connexions  :  accordingly,  the  Hon.  and  Rev. 
Mr,  Shirley,  chaplain  to  lady  Huntingdon,  in  a  circular  letter, 
written  at  her  desire,  declared  against  the  dreadful  heresy  of 
Wesley,  which,  as  he  expressed  himself,  "  injured  the  foundck- 
iion  of  Chriitianity."  He,  therefore,  summoned  another  con- 
ference, which  severely  censured  Wesley.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  patriarch  was  strongly  supported,  and  particularly  by 
Fletcher  of  Madeley,  an  able  writer,  whom  he  had  destined  to 
succeed  him,  as  the  head  of  his  connexion.  Instead  of  being  of- 
fended at  his  master's  change,  Fletcher  says,  "  I  admire  the  caiv 
dour  of  an  old  man  of  God,  who,  instead  of  obstinately  maintaiiv- 
inp  an  old  mistake,  comes  down  like  a  little  child,  and  acknow- 
ledges it  before  his  preachers,  whom  it  is  his  interest  to  secure." 
The  same  Fletcher  published  seven  volumes  of  Checks  to  Antino 
minnism,  in  vindication  of  Wesley's  change  in  this  essential  point 
of  his  religion.  In  these  he  brings  the  most  convincing  proofs 
and  examples  of  the  impiety  and  Immorality,  to  which  tljc  ei»- 
tinisiasm  of  Antinomian  Calvinism  had  conducted  the  Metho- 
dists. He  mentions  a  highwayman,  lately  executed  in  his 
neighbourhood,  who  vindicated  his  crimes  upon  this  principle. 
He  mentions  other  more  odious  instances  of  wickedness,  which, 
to  his  knowledge,  had  flowed  from  it.  All  tliese,  he  says,  are 
represented  by  their  prwuchcrs  to  be  "  damning  sins  in  Turks 


118 


Letter  XIX, 


In 

ill 

m 


and  Pagans,  but  only  spots  in  God's  children."  He  adds 
"  There  are  few  of  our  celebrated  pulpits,  where  more  has  not 
been  said  for  sin  than  against  it .'"  He  quotes  an  Hon.  M.  P. 
"  once  my  brother,"  he  says,  "  but  now  my  opponent,"  who,  in 
his  published  treatise,  maintains  that  "  murder  and  adultery  do 
not  hurt  the  pleasant  children,  (the  elected,)  but  even  work  for 
their  good :"  adding,  "  My  sins  may  displease  God,  my  person 
is  always  acceptable  to  him.  Though  I  should  outsin  Manas- 
ses  himself,  I  should  not  be  less  a  pleasant  child,  because  God 
always  views  me  in  Christ.  Hence,  in  the  midst  of  adulteries, 
murders  and  incests,  he  can  address  me  with.  Thou  art  all 
fair,  my  love,  my  undefiled ;  there  is  not  a  spot  in  thee. 
It  is  a  most  pernicious  error  of  the  schoolmen  to  distinguish 
sins  according  to  the  fact,  not  according  to  the  person.  Though 
I  highly  blame  those  who  say,  let  us  sin  that  grace  may  abound; 
yet  adultery,  incest  and  murder,  shall,  upon  the  whole,  make 
me  holier  on  earth  and  merrier  in  heaven  !"  It  only  remains 
to  show  in  what  manner  Wesley  purified  his  religious  system, 
as  he  thought,  from  the  defilement  of  Antinomianism.  To  be 
brief,  he  invented  a  two-fold  mode  of  justification,  one  without 
repentance,  the  love  of  God,  or  other  works;  the  other,  to 
which  these  works  were  essential :  the  former  was  for  those  who 
die  soon  after  their  pretended  experience  of  saving  faith,  the 
latter  for  those  who  have  time  and  opportunity  of  performing 
them.  Thus,  tc»  "lay  no  more  of  the  system,  according  to  it  a 
Nero  and  a  Robespierre  might  have  been  established  in  the 
grace  of  God,  and  in  a  right  to  the  realms  of  infinite  purity, 
without  one  act  of  sorrow  for  their  enormities,  or  so  much  as  an 
act  of  their  belief  in  God  !] 


He  adds 
lore  has  not 

Hon.  M.  P. 

;nt,"  who,  in 

adultery  do 
ven  work  for 

my  person 
iitsin  Manas- 
3ecause  God 
if  adulteries, 
rhou  art  all 
)ot  in  thee, 
distinguish 
on.  Though 
may  abound; 
whole,  make 
only  remains 
^ious  system, 
lism.     To  be 

one  without 
the  other,  to 
for  those  who 
ing  faith,  the 
>f  performing 
)rding  to  it  a 
3lished  in  the 
nfinite  purity, 
so  much  as  an 


t  119  1 


LETTER  XX. 
To  JAMES  BROWJV,  Esq, 

ON  THE  MEAjYS  OF  SAjYCTITY. 

Dkar  Sir, 

The  efficient  cause  of  justification,  or  sanctity,  according  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,*  is  the  mercy  of  God  through  the  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  still,  in  the  usual  economy  of  his  grace,  he 
makes  use  of  certain  instruments  or  means,  both  for  conferring 
and  increasing  it.  The  principal  and  most  efficacious  of  these 
are  THE  SACRAMENTS.  Fortunately,  the  established 
church  agrees  in  the  main  sense  with  the  Catholic  and  other 
Christian  churches,  when  she  defines  a  sacrament  to  be  "  an 
outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace, 
given  unto  us,  and  ordained  by  Christ  himself,  as  a  means 
whereby  we  receive  the  same,  and  a  pledge  to  assure  us  there- 
of."f  But,  though  she  agrees  with  other  Protestant  commu- 
nions in  reducing  the  number  of  these  to  two,  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  slie  diflers  with  all  others,  namely,  the  Catholic, 
ihe  Greek,  the  Russian,  the  Armenian,  the  Nestorian,  the  Euty- 
chian,  the  Coptic,  the  Ethiopian,  &;c.  all  of  which  firmly  main- 
tain, and  ever  have  maintained,  as  well  since  as  before  their 
respective  defections  from  us,  the  whole  collection  of  the  seven 
gacraments.'j^  This  fact  alone  refutes  the  airy  speculations  ot 
Protestants  concerning  the  origin  of  the  five  sacraments,  which 
(hey  reject,  and  thus  demonstrates  that  they  are  deprived  of  as 
many  divinely  instituted  instruments  or  means  of  sanctity.  As 
these  seven  channels  of  grace,  though  all  supplied  from  the 
same  fountain  of  Christ's  merits,  supply,  each  of  them,  a  sepa- 
rate grace,  adapted  to  tlie  different  wants  of  the  faithful,  and  as 
each  of  them  furnishes  matter  of  observation  for  the  present 
discussion,  so  I  shall  take  a  cursory  view  of  them. 

The  first  sacrament,  in  point  of  order  m'J  necessity,  is  bap- 

•  Sess.  vi.  cap.  7. 

t  Catechism  in  Com.  Prayer. — N.  B.  The  last  ( lause  in  this  definition  is  far 
too  8tron»,  as  it  seems  to  imply,  that  every  person  who  is  partaker  of  the  out- 
war-'  part  of  a  sacrament,  necessarily  receives  the  j;,n'ace  of  it,  whatever  may  ba 
his  dispositions ;  an  impiety  which  the  l)ishop  of  Lincoln  calumniously  attributcit 
to  the  Catholics.     Elements  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  436. 

I  This  important  fact  is  incontrovertibly  proved,  in  the  celebrated  work  La 
Perpetuity  de  la  Foi,  from  original  documents,  procured  by  Louis  XIV.  and 
preserved  iu  the  king^s  library  at  Paris. 


120 


Letter  XX. 


III 

nm 


tism.     In  fact,  no  authority  can  be  more  express  than  that  of 
the  Scripture,  as  to  this  necessity.     Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  spirit,  says  Christ,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  John  iii.  5.     Repent,  cries  St.  Peter,  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  for  the  remission 
of  sins.  Acts  ii.  38.     Arise,  answered  Ananias  to  St.  Paul,  and 
be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins.  Acts  xxii.  IG.     This  ne- 
cessity was  lieretofore  acknowledged  by  the  church  of  England, 
at  least,  as  appears  from  her  Articles,  and  still  more  clear)  v 
from  her  liturgy,*  and  the  works  of  her  eminent  divines.f 
Hence,  as  baptism  is  valid,  by  whomsoever  it  is  conferred,  the 
English  church  may  be  said  to  have  been  upon  an  equal  foci- 
ing  with  the  Catholic  church,  as  much  as  concerns  this  instru- 
ment or  means  of  hoUness :  but  the  case  is  diflerent  now,  since 
that  tacit  reformation,  which  is  acknowledged  to  have  taken 
place  in  her.     This  has  nearly  swept  out  of  her  both  the  belief 
of  original  sin,  and  of  its  necessary  remedy,  baptism.     "  That 
we  are  born  guilty,"  the  great  authority,  Dr.Balguy,  says,  "  is 
either  unintelligible  or  impossible."     Accordingly,  he  teaches, 
that  "  the  rite  of  baptism  is  no  more  than  a  representation  of 
our  entrance  into  the  church  of  Christ."     Elsewhere,  he  says, 
"  The  sign  (of  a  sacrament)  is  declaratory,  not  efficient.1[,"  Dr. 
Hey  says,  the  negligence  of  the  parent,  with  respect  to  pro- 
curing baptism,  "  may  alfect  the  child  :  to  say  it  will  aflecl 
him,  is  to  run  into  the  error  I  am  condemning."§     Even  tlie 
bishop  of  Lincoln  calls  it  "  an  unauthorized  principle  of  Pa- 
pists, that  no  person  whatsoever  can  be  saved  who  has  not  been 
baptized."||     Where  the  doctrine  of  baptism  is  so  lax,  we  may 
be  sure  the  practice  of  it  will  not  be  more  strict ;  accordingly, 
we  have  abundant  proofs  that,  from  the  frequent  and  long  de- 
lays, respecting  the  administration  of  this  sacrament,  which  oc- 
cur in  tiie  establishment,  very  many  children  die  v/ithout  receiv- 
ing it;  and  that,  from  the  negligence  of  ministers,  as  to  the 
right  matter  and  form  of  words,  many  more  iliildren  receive  it 
invalidly.     Look,  on  the  other  hand,  at  the  Catholic  church: 
you  will  find  the  same  importance  still  attached  to  this  sacred 
rite,  on  the  part  of  the  people  and  the  clergy,  which  is  observ- 

•  Comown  Prayer. 

t  See  B.  Pearson  on  the  Creed.  Art,  x.     Hooker,  Eccl.  Polit,  B.  v.  p.  60. 

±  Charge  vii.  pp.  298,  300.  {  Lectures  in  Divinity,  vol.  iii.  p.  IfiS. 

I  Vol,  ii.  p.  470.  The  learned  prelate  can  hardly  be  supposed  ignorant  that 
many  of  our  martyrs,  recorded  in  our  Martyrology  and  our  Breviary,  are  ex. 
pressly  declared  not  to  have  l)een  actually  baptized  ;  or  that  our  divines  unani- 
mously teach,  that  not  only  the  baptism  of  blood  by  martyrdom,  but  also  a  sin» 
cere  desire  of  being  baptized,  iiifnce?,  where  the  means  of  baptitra  are  wanting, 


LeiUr  XX. 


121 


than  that  of 
m  be  horn  of 
iter  into  the 
'eter,  and  be. 
the  7'emission 
it.  Paul,  and 
This  ne- 
of  England. 
nore  clearly 
(nt  divliies.l 
)nferretl,  the 
1  equal  foot- 
s  this  instru- 
jt  now,  since 
have  taken 
)th  the  belief 
5m.     "  That 
tiy,  says,  "  is 
,  he  teaphes, 
'esentattdn  of 
ere,  he  says, 
Icient.^"  Dr. 
lect  to  pro- 
it  will  afl'ecl 
§     Even  tlie 
iciple  of  Pa- 
has  not  been 
lax,  we  may 
accordingly, 
md  long  de- 
it,  which  oc- 
thout  receiv- 
Ts,  as  to  the 
en  receive  it 
lolic  church : 
0  this  sacred 
ch  is  observ- 


t.  B.  V.  p.  60. 
.  iii.p.  182. 
8(1  ignorant  that 
peviary,  are  ex. 
'  divines  unani- 
,  but  also  a  sin* 
iia  are  wanting, 


able  in  the  Acts  of  the  apostles  and  in  the  writings  of  the  holy 
fathers ;  the  former  being  eVer  impatient  to  have  their  children 
baptized,  the  latter  equally  solicitous  to  administer  it  in  due 
time,  and  with  the  most  scrupulous  exactness.  Thus,  as  mat- 
ters stand  now,  the  two  churches  are  not  upon  a  level  with  re- 
spect to  this  first  and  common  means  of  sanctification  :  the 
members  of  one  have  a  much  greater  moral  certainty  of  the  re- 
mission of  that  sin  in  which  we  were  all  bom,  and  of  their  hav- 
ing been  heretofore  actually  received  into  the  church  of  Christ, 
than  the  members  of  the  others  have.  It  would  be  too  tedious 
a  task  to  treat  of  the  tenets  of  other  Protestants  on  this  and  the 
corresponding  matters.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  the  famous 
S}nod  of  Dort,  representing  all  the  Calvinistic  states  of  Eu- 
rope, formerly  decided  that  the  children  of  the  elect  are  includ- 
ed in  the  covenant  made  with  their  parents,  and  thus  are  ex- 
empt from  the  necessity  of  baptism,  as  likewise  of  faith  and 
morality ;  being  thus  ensured,  themselves  and  nil  their  posteri- 
ty, till  the  end  of  time,  of  their  justification  and  salvation  !* 

Concerning  the  second  channel  of  grace  or  means  of  sanctity, 
confirmation,  there  is  no  question.  The  church  of  England, 
which,  among  the  diflerent  Protestant  societies,  alone,  I  be- 
lieve, lays  claim  to  any  part  of  this  rite,  under  the  title  ct  the 
ceremony  of  laying  on  of  hands,  expressly  teaches,  at  the  same 
time,  that  it  is  no  sacrament,  as  not  being  ordained  by  God,  or 
an  effectual  sign  of  grace.\  But  the  Catholic  church,  instruct- 
ed by  the  solicitude  of  the  apostles  to  strengthen  the  faith  of 
those  her  children  who  had  received  it  in  baptism,J  and  by  the 
lessons  of  Christ  himself,  concerning  the  importance  of  receiv- 
ing that  holy  spirit,  which  is  communicated  in  this  sacrament,^ 
religiously  retains  and  faithfully  administers  it  to  them,  for 
the  self-same  purpose,  through  all  ages.  In  a  word,  those  who 
are  true  Christians,  by  virtue  of  baptism,  are  not  made  perfect 
Christians,  except  by  virtue  of  the  sacrament  of  confirmation, 
which  none  ol'  the  Protestant  societies  so  much  as  lays  a  claim 
to.  « 

Of  the  third  sacrament,  indeed,  the  Lord''s  Supper,  as  they 
call  it,  the  Protestant  societies,  and  particularly  the  church  of 
England,  in  her  Prayer  Book,  say  great  things  :  nevertheless, 
what  is  it,  after  all,  upon  her  own  showing.'*  Mere  bread  and 
wine,  received  in  memory  of  Christ's  passion  and  death,  in  or- 
der to  excite  the  receiver's  faith  in  him :  that  is  to  say,  it  is  a 


♦  Bossuet,  Variat.  Book  xiv.  p.  40. 
i  Art.  zxv.  i  Actaviii.  14.— xix.  2. 

Q 


i  Johuzvi. 


122 


Letter  XX, 


it; 


'J 


i 


bare  ^ype  or  memorial  of  Christ.  Aiiy  thing'  may  be  instituted 
to  be  tlie  type  or  memorial  of  another  thing  j  but  certainly  the 
Jews,  in  their  paschal  lamb,  had  a  more  lively  figure  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  so  have  Christians  in  each  of  the  four 
evangelists,  than  eating  bread  and  drinking  wine  can  be. 
Hence,  I  infer  that  the  communion  of  Protestants,  according  to 
their  belief  and  practice  in  this  country,  cannot  be  more  than  a 
feeble  excitement  to  their  devotion,  and  an  inefficient  help  to 
their  sanctification.  But  if  Christ  is  to  be  believed  upon  his 
own  solemn  declaration,  where  he  says,  Take  ye  and  cat;  thu 
it  my  body : — drink  ye  all  of  this  ;  for  this  is  my  blood,  Mat.  xxvi. 
26.— ^Jliy  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed, 
John  vi.  56.  Then  the  holy  communion  of  Catholics  is,  be- 
yond all  expression  and  all  conception,  not  only  the  most  pow- 
erful  stimulative  to  our  faith,  our  hope,  our  love,  and  our  coiv 
tfition  ;  but  also  the  most  efficacious  means  of  obtaining  these 
and  all  other  graces  from  the  divine  bounty.  Those  Catholics 
who  frequent  this  sacrament  with  the  suitable  dispositions,  are 
the  best  judges  of  the  truth  of  what  I  here  say :  nevcrthclcssi, 
many  Protestants  have  been  converted  to  the  Catholic  church, 
from  the  ardent  desire  they  felt  of  receiving  tlieir  Saviour 
Christ  himself  into  their  bosoms,  instead  of  a  bare  memorial  of 
him,  and  from  a  just  conviction  of  tiic  spiritual  benefits  tlicy 
would  derive  from  this  intimate  union  with  him. 

Tlie  four  remaining  Instruments  of  grace,  penance,  extreme 
unction,  order,  and  matrimony,  Protestants,  in  general,  give  up 
to  us,  no  less  than  confirmation.  The  bishop  of  Lincohi,*  Dr. 
Hey,f  and  other  controvertlsts,  pretend  that  it  was  Peter  Ijoid- 
bard,  in  the  12th  century,  who  made  sacraments  of  them.  True 
it  is,  that  this  industrious  theologian  collected  together  the  dif- 
ferent passages  of  tlie  fathers,  and  arranged  them,  witli  proper 
definitions  of  each  subject,  In  their  present  scholastic  order,  not 
only  respecting  the  sacraments,  but  likewise  the  other  branclit^ 
of  divinity,  on  which  account  he  is  called  the  waster  of  the  sen- 
tences ;  but  tills  writer  could  as.s()on  have  Introduced  I\Iah()nii't- 
anism  into  tiie  church  as  the  belief  of  any  one  sacrament  which 
it  had  not  before  received  as  such.  IJesiih.'s,  supposing  liiui  to 
have  deceived  the  Latin  chunli  into  this  belief,  I  ask  l)y  wliul 
means  were  the  schlsniatical  Creek  churciies  fas»-lnated  into  it.' 
In  short,  though  these  holy  rites  had  n(»tl»'en  endued  by  Clni>t 
with  a  sacramental  grace,  yet,  practised  as  they  are  in  the  Cn- 


*  Elcm.  vol.  ii.  p.  414, 


t  Led.  vol.  iv.  !>.  199. 


ay  be  instituted 
>ut  certainly  the 
ly  figure  of  the 
ich  of  the  four 
f  wine  can  be. 
ts,  according  to 

be  more  than  a 
lefRcient  help  to 
iieved  upon  liij 
ye  and  cat;  thw 
dood,  Mat.  xxvl, 
is  drink  indeed, 
Catholics  is,  be- 
y  the  most  pow- 
'e,  and  our  coi>. 

obtaining  these 
Those  Catholicj 
dispositions,  are 
y :  nevertheless, 
Jatholic  church, 
j;  their  Saviour 
are  memorial  of 
lal  benefits  they 

•)cnance,  extrem 
general,  give  up 
)f  Lincoln,*  Dr. 
was  Peter  Lom- 
s  of  them.  True 
ogether  the  dif- 
em,  with  proper 
lastic  order,  not 
'  other  luiui(;lu'> 
nsd'}'  of  (he  sen- 
need  Mahoiiiit- 
acranu'ut  uliidi 
ipposing  him  to 
,  I  ask  by  uluit 
scinated  into  it.' 
idued  hy  ("liii>i 
y  arc  in  the  di- 


ul.iv.  i).  199. 


Letter  XX. 


13» 


tholic  church,  they  would  still  be  great  helps  to  piety  and 
Christian  morality. 

What  I  have  just  asserted  concerning  these  five  sacraments, 
in  general,  is  particularly  true,  with  respect  to  the  sacrament  of 
nenance.     For  what  does  this  consist  of?  and  what  is  the  pre- 
paration for  it,  as  set  forth  by  all  our  councils,  catechisms,  and 
p-ayer  books  f     There  must  first  be  fervent  prayer  to  God  for 
h;  light  and  strength;  next  an  impartial  examination  of  the 
conscience,  to  acquire  that  most  important  of  all  sciences,  the 
knowledge  of  ourselves ;  then  true  sorrow  for  our  sins,  with  a 
(jrm  purpose  of  amendment,  which  is  the  most  essential  part  of 
the  sacrament.     After  this  there  must  be  a  sincere  exposure  of 
the  state  of  the  interior  to  a  confidential,  and  at  the  same  time, 
a  learned,  experienced,  and  disinterested  director.     If  he  could 
afford  no  other  benefit  to  his  penitents,  yet  how  inestimable  are 
those  of  his  making  known  to  them  many  defects  and  many  du- 
ties, which  their  self-love  had  probably   overlooked,  of  his 
prescribing  to  them  the  proper  remedies  for  their  spiritual  mala- 
dies, and  of  his  requiring  them  to  make  restitution  for  every 
injury  done  to  each  injured  neighbour  !     But  we  are  well  as- 
sured that  these  are  far  from  being  the  only  benefits  which  the 
minister  of  this  sacrament  can  confer  upon  the  subject  of  it : 
for  it  was  not  an  empty  compliment  which  Christ  paid  to  his 
apostles,  when,  Breathing  on  them,  he  said  to  them :  Receive  ye 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sins  you  shall  remit,  they  are  remitted j 
and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  retained.    John  xx.  22, 
23.     O  sweet  balm  of  the  wounded  spirit !  O  sovereign  restora- 
tive of  the  soul's  life  and  vigour !  best  known  to  those  who 
faithfully  use  thee,  and  not  unattested  by  those  who  neglect  and 
blaspheme  thee  !* 

It  might  appear  strange,  if  we  were  not  accustomed  to  similar 
inconsistencies,  that  those  who  profess  to  make  Scripture,  in  its 
plain  obvious  sense,  the  sole  rule  of  their  faith  and  practice, 
should  deny  extreme  unction  to  be  a  sacrament,  the  external 
f\^  of  which,  anointing  the  sick,  and  the  spiritual  effect  of 
which,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  are  so  expressly  declared  by  St. 
James,  in  his  Epistle  v.  14.  Martin  Luther,  indeed,  who  had 
taken  offence  at  this  Epistle,  for  its  insisting  so  strongly  on 
pood  works,f  rejected  the  authority  of  this  Epistle,  alleging 
that  it  was  "  not  lawful  for  an  apostle  to  institute  a  sacra- 

•  Sen  Iho  form  of  ordaininjf  prints  in  bishop  Sparrow's  Collect,  p.  158,  alio 
the  form  of  absolution,  in  tho  vi^iitntion  of  the  sirk,in  the  C'ommon  I'raycr. 

t  I.iithrr,  in  tho  ori^innl  Jena  eilition  of  hit  works,  calla  this  Epistle  "a  dry 
and  cliuffy  Epistle,  unworthy  an  apoille.'* 

14 


124 


Letter  XX, 


ment."*     But,  I  trust,  that  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  conscien. 
tious  society,  will  agree  with  me,that  it  is  more  incredible  that  an 
apostle  of  Christ  should  be  ignorant  of  what  he  was  authorized 
by  him  to  say  and  do,  than  that  a  profligate  German  frjar 
should  be  guilty  of  blasphemy.  Indeed,  the  church  of  England 
in  the  first  form  of  her  Common  Prayer  in  Edward's  reign,  en- 
joined the  unction  of  the  sick,  as  well  as  the  prayer  for  them.f 
It  was  evidently  well  worthy  the  mercy  and  bounty  of  our  di- 
vine Saviour,  to  institute  a  special  sacrament  for  purifying  and 
strengthening  us  at  the  time  of  our  greatest  need  and  terror 
Owing  to  the  institution  of  this,  and  the  two  other  sacraments 
penance  and  the  real  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord,  it  is  a  fact, 
that  feWy  very  few  Catholics  die  without  the  assistance  of  their 
clergy ;  which  assistance  the  latter  are  bound  to  aftbrd,  at  the 
expense  of  ease,  fortune,  and  life  itself,  to  the  most  indigent  and 
abject  of  their  flock,  who  are  in  danger  of  death,  no  less  than 
to  the  rich  and  the  great :  wliile,  on  the  otlier  hand,  very  ih\ 
Protestants,  in  that  extremity,  partake  at  all  of  the  cold  rites  of| 
their  religion ;  though  one  of  them  is  declared,  in  the  Cate- 
chism, to  be  "  necessary  for  salvation!" 

It  is  equally  strange  that  a  clergy,  with  such  high  claims  and  I 
important  advantages  as  those  of  the  establishment,  should  deny 
that  the  orders  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  are  sacrament- 
al,  or  that  the  Episcopal  form  of  church  government,  and  ot'| 
ordaining  the  clergy,  is  in  preference  to  any  other  required  by 
Scripture.     In  fact,  this  is  telling  the  legislature  and  the  nation] 
that,  if  they  prefer  the  less  expensive  ministry  of  the  Presbyte- 
rians or  Methodists,  there  is  nothing  divine  or  essential  in  tliel 
ministry  itself,  which  will  be  injured  by  the  change  ;  and  that 
clergymen  may  be  as  validly  ordained  by  the  town-crier  witli 
his  bell,  as  by  the  metropolitan's  imposition  of  hands  !    Never- 
theless, this  is  the  doctrine,  not  only  of  Hoadley's   SocinianI 
school,  as  I  have  elsewhere  demonstrated,^  but  also  of  those  mo- 
dem divines  and  dignitaries,  wiio  are  the  standard  of  ortho- 
doxy.'5>     Thus  arc  the  clergy  of  the  English  church,  as  well  asi 
all  other  Protestant  ministers,  by  their  own  confession,  desti- 
tute of  all  sacramental  grace  for  performing  their  functions  ho- 
lily  and  beneficially. ||     But  wr  know,  conformably  to  the  doc- 
trine of  St.  Paul,  in  both  his  Epistles  to  Timothy,  1  Tim.  iv.l 

•  Luther's  works,  Jona  edition. 

t  gee  Collier's  Ecrles.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  257. 

X  Dr.  Balffuy,  Dr.  Hey,  &r. 

t  The  bishop  oi  Lincoln's  Klnm.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  pp.  37C,  3&6. 

II  Sec  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  VIII. 


grace 
cellent 
we  an 
of  Mai 

to  the 

ed  on 
I  p.) 

our  pij 
candid 
ceedid 


tiOMSUIll 


Xjetter  XX. 


125 


14.  2  T  in.  i.  6.  with  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
church,  and  of  all  other  ancient  churches,  that  this  grace  is  con- 
ferred on  those  who  are  truly  ordained  and  in  fit  dispositions  to 
receive  it.  We  know,  moreover,  that  the  persuasion  which 
the  faithful  entertain  of  the  divine  character  and  grace  of  their 
clergy,  gives  a  great  additional  weight  to  their  lessons  and 
ministry. — In  like  manner,  with  respect  to  matrimony,  which 
the  same  apostle  expressly  calls  a  sacrament,  Ephes.  v.  32,  in- 
dependently o{  its  peculiar  grace,  the  very  idea  of  its  sanctity, 
is  a  preparation  for  entering  into  that  state  with  religious  dis- 
positions. 

Next  to  the  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  helps  to 
holiness  and  salvation,  I  must  mention  her  public  service.     We 
continually  hear  the  advocates  of  the  establishment  crying  up 
the  beauty  and  perfection  of  their  liturgy  ;*  but,  they  have  not 
the  candour  to  inform  the  public  that  it  is  all,  in  a  manner,  bor- 
rowed from  the  Catholic  Missal  and  Ritual.     Of  this  any  one 
may  satisfy  himself  who  will  compare  the  prayers,  lessons  and 
Gospels,  in  these  Catholic  books,  with  those  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.     But,  though  our  service  has  been  thus  pur- 
loined, it  haS)  by  no  means  been  preserved  entire  :  on  the  con- 
trary, we  find  it,  in  the  latter,  eviscerated  of  its  noblest  parts  j 
particularly  with  respect  to  the  principal  and  essential  worship 
of  ill  the  ancient  churches,  the  holy  mass,  which,  from  a  true 
propitilitory  sacrifice,  as  it  stands  in  all  their  Missals,  is  cut 
down  to  a  mere  verbal  worship  in  !Z%e  Order  for  Morning 
Prayer.     Hence,  our  James  I.  pronounced  of  the  latter,  that  it 
is  an  ill-said  mans.     Tiie  servants  of  God  had,  by  his  appoint- 
ment, SACRIFICE  both  under  the  law  of  nature  and  the  writ- 
ten law;  it  would  then  be  extraordinary,  if  under  the  law  of 
grace  they  were  left  destitute  of  this  the  most  sublime  and  ex- 
cellent act  of  religion,  which  man  can  ofler  to  his  Creator.    But 
we  are  not  left  destitute  of  it :  on  the  contrary,  that  prophecy 
of  Malarliy  is  fulfilled,  Mai.  i.  11.  In  evcri/ place fr(>mthe  rising 
to  ihc  setting  of  the  sun,  sacrifice  is  offered  and  a  pure  oblation, 
ever  Christ  himself,  who  is  really  present  and  mystically  ofler- 
cd  on  our  altars  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mp$s. 

I  pass  over  the  soienniity,  the  order  and  the  magnificence  of 
oiir  public  vvorhip  and  ritual  in  Catholic  countries,  rvlilch  most 
ciuidid  Protestants,  who  have  witnessed  them,  allow  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly impressive,  and  great  helps  to  devotion,  and  which, 


•  Dr.  Roniiol  r:\lIstIio  «hiin^h  litnrjjy  "  tho  mf»st  perfect  of  human  fnmposi* 
tioniaiiil  tho  jucrcd  lugivoy  of  tlio  first  rcformors."    Disc.  p.  237. 


126 


Letter  XXI, 


certainly,  in  most  particulars,  find  their  parallel  in  the  worship 
and  ceremonies  of  the  Old  Law,  ordained  by  God  himself. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  a  gross  calumny  to  assert  that  the  Catholic 
church  does,  or  ever  did  make  the  essence  of  religion  to  con- 
sist in  these  externals ;  and  we  challenge  them  to  our  councils 
and  doctrinal  books  in  refutation  of  the  calumny.  In  like  man- 
ner, I  pass  over  the  many  private  exercises  of  piety  which  are 
generally  practised  in  regular  Catholic  families  and  by  indivi- 
duals, such  as  daily  meditation  and  spiritual  reading,  evening 
prayers  and  examination  of  the  conscience,  &-c.  These,  it  will 
not  be  denied,  must  be  helps  to  obtain  sanctity  for  those  who 
are  desirous  of  it. — But  I  have  said  more  than  enough  to  con- 
vince your  friends  in  which  of  the  rival  communions  the  means 
of  sanctity  are  chiefly  to  be  found. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  he. 
J.  M. 


m 


':i3;i, 


m 


^■^ 


LETTER  XXL 
To  JAMES  BROWX,  Esq, 

OJ^  THE  FRUITS  OF  SANCTITY.  * 

Dear  Sir, 
The  fruits  of  sanctity  are  the  virtues  practised  by  those  who 
are  possessed  of  it.  Hence  tire  present  question  is,  whether 
these  are  to  be  found,  for  tiie  most  part,  among  the  members  of 
the  ancient  Catholic  church,  or  among  the  diflorcnt  innovators, 
who  undertook  to  reform  it  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.?  In  considering  the  subject,  the  first  thing  which 
strikes  me  is,  that  all  the  saints,  and  even  those  who  are  record- 
ed as  such  in  the  calendar  of  the  church  of  England,  and  in 
whose  names  their  churches  are  dedicated,  lived  and  died  strict 
members  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  zealously  attached  to  her 
doctrine  and  discipline.*  For  an  example,  in  this  calendar,  we 
meet  with  a  Pope  Gregory,  March  12,  the  zealous  assertor  of 

•  I  must  except  kinj;; Charles  I.  who  is  nibrictited  as  a  martyr  on  Jan.  30: 
ncverthflless,  it  is  ronfesxrd  that  he  wa^  fur  from  jwsseit.oing  either  the  purity  of 
a  taint  or  the  conKtanry  of  a  martyr  :  for  ho  artiially  -javn  up  Kpi«ropacy,  ami 
o'her  OBtentiala  of  tlio  establiaheil  religion,  by  his  lust  treaty  in  thu  Isle  of  Wiglit. 


in  the  worship 
God  himself. 
t  the  Catholic 
ligion  to  con- 
our  councils 
In  like  man- 
ety  which  are 
md  by  indivi- 
ding,  evening 
These,  it  will 
for  those  who 
lough  to  con- 
ons  the  means 

Sir,  &:c. 
J.M. 


Letter  XXI. 


127 


by  those  who 
1  is,  whether 
le  members  of 
tit  innovators, 
J  seventeenth 

thing  which 
o  are  record- 
gland,  and  ill 
nd  died  strict 
tachcd  to  her 

calendar,  we 
IS  assertor  of 


rtyr  on  Jan.  30: 
pr  (ho  purity  of 
Rpi^ropacy,  aiul 
hti  Isle  of  Wi  gilt. 


the  papal  supremacy,*  and  other  Catholic  doctrines;  a  St. 
Benedict,  March  21,  the  patriarch  of  the  western  monks  and 
nuns  J  a  St.  Dunstan,  May  19,  the  vindicator  of  clerical  celi- 
bacy; a  St.  Augustine  of  Canterbury,  May  2G,  the  introducer 
of  the  whole  system  of  Catholicity  into  England,  and  a  venera- 
ble Bede,  May  27,  the  witness  of  this  important  fact.     It  is 
sufficient  to  mention  the  names  of  other  Catholic  saints,  for 
example,  David,  Chad,  Edward,  Richard,  Elphege,  Martin, 
Swithun,  Giles,  Lambert,  Leonard,  Hugh,  Etheldreda,  Remi- 
giiis,  and  Edmund,  all  of  which  are  inserted  in  the  calendar, 
and  give  names  to  the  churches  of  the  establishment.     Besides 
these,  there  are  yery  many  of  our  other  saints,  whom  all  learned 
and  candid  Protestants  unequivocally  admit  to  have  been  such, 
for  the  extraordinary  purity  and  sanctity  of  their  lives.     Even 
Luther  acknowledges  St.  Anthony,  St.  Bernard,  St.  Dominic, 
St.  Francis,  St.  Bonaventure,  Stc.  to  have  been  saints,  though 
avowed  Catholics,  and  defenders  of  the  Catholic  church  against 
the  heretics  and  schismatics  of  their  times.     But,  independently 
of  this  and  of  every  other  testimony,  it  is  certain  that  the  su- 
pernatural virtues  and  heroical  sanctity  of  a  countless  number 
of  holy  personages  of  diflerciit  countries,  ranks,  professions, 
and  sexes,  have  illustrated  the  Catholic  church  in  every  age, 
«vith  an  efluigence  which  cannot  be    disputed   or  withstood. 
Your  friends,  I  dare  say,  are  not  nnich  acquamted  with  the 
histories  of  these  brightest  ornaments  of  Christianity :  let  me 
then  invite  them  to  peruse  them ;  not  in  the  legends  of  obsolete 
writers,  but  in  a  n  ork  which,  for  its  various  learning  and  lu- 
minous criticism,  was  commended  even  by  the  Infidel  Gibbon. 
I  mean  The  Saints^  Lives,  in  twelve  octavo  volumes,  written  by 
tlie  late  Rev.  Alban  Butler,  president  of  St.  Omer's  college 
Protestants  are  accustomed  to  jiaint  in  the  most  frightful  colours 
the  alleged  depravity  of  the  church,  when  Luther  erected  his 
standard,  in  order  to  justify  him  and  his  followers'  defection 
from  it :  but  to  form  a  right  judgment  in  the  case,  let  them  read 
the  works  of  the  contemporary  writers,  an  a  Kempis,  a  Gerson, 
an  Antoninus,  ^^c.or  let  them  peruse  the  lives  of  Vincent  Ferrer, 
St.  Laurence  Justinian,  St.  Franci»  Paula,  St.  Philip  Neri,  St. 
Cajctaii,  St.  Teresa,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  and  of  those  other 
saints,  who  illuminated  the  church  about  the  period  in  question; 

•  Many  Protestant  writers  pretended  that  St.  Crcpfory  disclaimed  the  «n- 
premacy,  because  he  usscrlcd  against  Jolin  of  ('.  P.  that  neither  he  nor  any 
other  prt'hite  ought  to  assume  the  title  of  Univrrsnl  Jiishnp  ;  but  that  he  claim- 
ed ami  oxorrispil  the  supremacy,  his  own  worka  und  the  history  of  Bcdo  incon- 
trorcrtihly  Ucmoastratu. 


128 


letter  XXI, 


■•■:S 


or  let  them,  from  the  very  accounts  of  Protestant  historians, 
compare,  as  to  religion  and  morality,  archbishop  Cranmer  with 
his  rival  bishop  Fisher;  protector  Seymour  with  chancellor 
More,  Ann  Bullen  with  Catharine  of  Arragon,  Martin  Luther 
and  Calvin  with  Francis  Xavier  and  cardinal  Pole,  Beza  with 
St.  Francis  of  Sales,  queen  Elizabeth  with  Mary  queen  of 
Scots ;  these  contrasted  characters  having  more  or  less  relation 
with  each  other.  From  such  a  comparison,  I  have  no  sort  of 
doubt  what  the  decision  of  your  friends  will  be  concerning 
them,  in  point  of  their  respective  holiness. 

I  have  heretofore  been  called  upon  to  consider  the  virtues 
and  merits  of  the  most  distinguished  reformers  ;*  and  certainly 
we  have  a  right  to  expect  from  persons  of  this  description  finish- 
ed models  of  virtue  and  piety.  But  instead  of  this  being  the 
case,  I  have  shown  that  patriarch  Luther  was  the  sport  of  hig 
unbridled  passions,f  pride,  resentment,  and  lust ;  that  he  was 
turbulent,  abusive,  and  sacrilegious,  in  the  highest  degree ;  that 
he  was  the  trumpeter  of  sedition,  civil  war,  rebellion,  and  deso- 
lation ;  and  finally,  that  by  his  own  account,  he  was  the  scholar 
of  Satan,  in  the  most  important  article  of  his  pretended  Re- 
format'.on.J  I  have  made  out  nearly  as  heavy  a  charge  against 
his  chief  followers,  Carlostad,  Zuinglius,  Ochin,  Calvin,  Beza, 
and  Cranmer.  V/itli  respect  to  the  last  named,  who  under  Ed- 
ward VL  and  his  fratricide  uncle,  the  duke  of  Somerset,  was 
the  chief  artificer  of  the  Anglican  church,  I  have  shown  that, 
from  his  youthful  life  in  a  college,  till  his  death  at  the  stako, 
he  exhibited  such  a  continued  scene  of  libertinism,  perjury,  hy- 
pocrisy, barbarity,  (in  burning  his  fellow  Protestants,)  profli- 
gacy, ingratitude,  and  rebellion,  as  is,  perhaps,  not  to  be 
matched  in  history.  I  have  proved  that  all  his  fcllow-lFbour- 
crs  and  fellow-sufferers  were  rebels  like  himself,  who  world 
have  been  put  to  death  by  Elizabeth,  if  they  had  not  been  exe- 
cuted by  Mary.  I  adduced  the  testimony  not  only  o(  Erasmus 
and  other  Catholics,  but  also  of  the  gravest  Protestant  histori- 
ans, and  of  the  very  reformers  themselves,  in  proof  that  the 
morals  of  the  people,  so  far  from  being  changed  for  the  better, 
by  embracing  tiie  new  religion,  were  greatly  changed  for  the 
worse.^     The  pretended  Reformation,  in  foreign  countries,  as 


•  Reflections  on  Popery,  by  Dr.  Sturges,  L.  L.  D.  &c. 

t  Letters  to  a  Preb.  Let.  V.  p.  17C. 

:f  Ibid.  p.  183,  where  Satan's  conference  '  ith  Luther,  and  the  arguments  by 
which  he  induced  this  reformer  to  abolish  the  mass,  are  detailed,  from  Luthcr'l 
works.    Tom.  vii.  p.  228. 

)  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  Letter  V. 


•  i  »; 


c- 


Letter  XXL 


129 


t  historians, 
ranmer  with 
I  chancellor 
artin  Luther 
,  Beza  with 
ry  queen  of 
less  relation 
'e  no  sort  of 
concerning 

•  the  virtues 
nd  certainly 
iption  finisii- 
is  being  the 

sport  of  his 

that  he  was 
iegree ;  that 
n,  and  deso- 
5  the  scholar 
etended  Re- 
arge  against 
alvin,  Beza, 
[)  under  Ed- 
smerset,  was 

shown  that, 
it  the  stalto, 
perjury,  h>. 
ants,)  profli- 
not  to  be 
Ilow-Irbour- 

who  wopjd 
ot  been  exe- 

of  Erasmus 
!tant  histori- 
oof  that  tiic 
r  the  better, 
nged  for  tlie 
countries,  as 


in  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  at  Geneva,  in  Switzerland, 
France,  and  Scotland,  besides  producing  popular  insurrections, 
sackages,  demolitions,  sacrileges,  and  persecution  beyond  des- 
cription, excited  also  open  rebellions  and  bloody  civil  wars.* 
In  England,  where  our  writers  boast  of  the  orderly  manner  in 
which  the  change  of  religion  was  carried  on,  it,  nevertheless, 
most  unjustly  and  sacrilegiously  seized  upon,  and  destroyed,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  six  hundred  and  forty-five  monasteries, 
ninety  colleges,  and  one  hundred  and  ten  hospitals,  besides  the 
bishopric  of  Durham ;  and,  under  Edward  VI.  or  rather  his 
profligate  uncle,  it  dissolved  two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
seventy-four  colleges,  chapels,  or  hospitals,  in  order  to  make 
princely  fortunes  of  their  property  for  that  uncle  and  his  un- 
principled comrades,  who,  like  banditti,  quarrelling  over  their 
spoils,  soon  brought  each  other  to  the  block.  Such  were  the 
fruits  of  sanctity,  every  where  produced  by  this  Reformation  ! 


I  am,  &cc. 


J.  M. 


•  The  Huguenots  in  Dauphiny  alone,  as  one  of  their  writers  confesses,  burnt 
down  900  towns  or  villages,  and  murtlered  378  priests  or  religious,  in  the  course 
of  one  rebellion.  The  number  of  churclies  destroyed  by  them  throughout 
France,  is  computed  at  20,000.  The  history  of  J^ngland's  reformation  (though 
this  was  certainly  more  orderly  than  that  of  other  countries)  has  caused  the 
conversion  of  many  English  Protestants:  it  produced  this  effect  on  James  II.  and 
his  first  consort,  the  mother  of  que^n  Mary,  and  queen  Ann.  'I'he  following  is 
the  account  which  the  latter  has  left  of  this  change,  and  which  is  to  be  found  in 
Dodd'slast  volume,  and  in  the  Fifty  Reasons  of  the  duke  of  Brunsw.'ck.  "  See- 
ing much  of  the  devotion  ofthe  Catholics,  I  made  it  my  constant  prayer  that  if  I 
were  not,  1  might,  before  I  died,  be  in  the  true  religion.  I  did  not  doubt  but 
that  I  was  so  till  November  last,  when,  reading  a  book  called  The  History  of  Ihe 
Rffonmlion,  bi)  Dr.  Hfi/Hn,  which  I  had  heard  very  much  commended,  and  had 
been  told,  if  ever  I  had  any  doubts  in  my  religion  that  would  settle  me  :  instead 
of  which  I  found  it  tlie  description  of  the  horridest  sacrileges  in  the  world  ;  and 
could  find  no  cause  why  we  left  the  church,  but  for  three,  the  most  abominable 
ones:  1st,  Henry  VIII.  renounced  the  Pope,  because  he  would  not  give  him 
leave  to  part  with  his  wife  and  marry  another:  2il)y,  Edward  VI.  was  a  child 
nnd  governed  by  his  uncle,  who  made  his  estate  out  of  the  church  lands  :  3<lly, 
Elizabeth  not  being  lawful  heiress  to  the  crown,  had  noway  to  keep  it  but  by 
renouncing  a  chur-h  which  would  not  suffer  so  unlawful  a  thing.  I  confess  I 
cannot  tiiink  the  Holy  Ghost  could  ever  be  in  such  councils."  ^ 


e  arguments  by 
,  from  Luthcr'i 


■■■i''--'</fi-yv. 


ctti 


[  130  ] 


f^;^  1 


LETTER  XXII. 
To  Mr.  J.  TOULMIJSr, 

OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED. 

Dear  Sir, 
1  HAVE  received  your  letter,  animadverting  upon  mine  to  our 
common  friend,  Mr.  Brown,  respecting-  the  fruits  ot  sanctity,  as 
they  appear  in  our  respective  communions.  I  observe,  you  do 
not  contest  my  general  facts  or  arguments,  but  resort  to  objec- 
tions which  have  been  ah'eady  answered  in  these,  or  in  my 
other  letters  now  before  the  public.  You  assert,  as  a  notorious 
fact,  that  for  several  ages,  prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  Catho- 
lic religion  was  sunk  into  ceremonies  and  pageantry,  and  that 
it  sanctioned  the  most  atrocious  crimes.  In  refutation  of  these 
calumnies,  I  have  referred  to  our  councils,  to  our  most  accre- 
dited authors  of  religion  and  morality,  and  to  the  lives  and 
deaths  of  our  most  renowned  saints,  during  the  ages  in  ques- 
tion. I  grant,  sir,  that  you  hold  the  same  language  on  this 
subject  that  other  Protestant  writers  do ;  but  I  maintain  that 
none  of  them  make  good  their  charges,  and  that  their  motive 
for  advancing  them  is  to  find  a  pretext  for  excusing  the  irreli- 
gion  of  the  pretended  Reformation.  You  next  extol  the  alleged 
sanctity  of  the  Protestant  sufferers,  called  martyrs,  in  the  un- 
happy persecution  of  queen  Mary's  reign.  I  have  discussed 
this  matter  at  some  length  in  The.  Letters  to  a  Prebendary^  and 
have  shown,  in  opposition  to  John  Fox  and  his  copyists,  that 
some  of  these  pretended  martyrs  were  alive  when  he  wrote  the 
history  of  their  death  ;*  that  others  of  them,  and  the  five  bi- 
shops in  particular,  so  far  from  being  saints,  were  notoriously  de- 
ficient in  the  ordinary  duties  of  good  subjects  and  honest  men  ;f 
that  others  again  were  notorious  assassins,  as  Gardener,  Flower, 
and  Rough  ;  or  robbers,  as  Debenhani,  King,  Marsh,  Canches, 
Gilbert,  Masscy,  &;c.  J  while  not  a  few  of  them  retracted  their 
errors,  as  Bilney,  Taylor,  Wassalia,  and  died,  to  all  appear- 
ance. Catholics.  To  the  whole  ponderous  folio  of  Fox's  false- 
hoods I  have  opposed  the  gemiine  and  edifying  Memoirs  of 
Missionary  Priests  and  other  Catholic!,  who  suffered  death  for 
their  Religion  during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Stuarts. 
Finally,  you  reproach  me  with  the  scandalous  lives  of  some  of 


•  See  Letter  IV.  on  Persecution. 
t  See  Letter  V.  on  the  Rcforraatiou. 


t  Letter  IV. 


Litter  XXll. 


131 


nine  to  our 
sanctity,  as 
ve,  you  do 
i't  to  objec- 
,  or  in  my 
a  notorious 
the  Catho- 
y,  and  that 
on  of  these 
nost  accre- 
e  lives  and 
^es  in  ques- 
ige  on  this 
lintain  that 
heir  motive 
2;  the  irreli- 
iho  alleged 
in  the  mi- 
e  discussed 
yndary^  and 
pyists,  tliat 
e  wrote  the 
the  five  bl- 
iriously  de- 
nest  men  ;f 
icr,  Flower, 
1,  Cauches, 
racted  their 
all  appear- 
Fox's  lalse- 
Mcmoirs  of 
d  death  for 
ihe  Stuarts, 
of  some  of 


our  Popes,  during  the  middle  ages,  and  of  very  many  Catho- 
lics of  different  descriptions,  throughout  the  church  at  the  pre- 
sent day ;  and  you  refer  me  to  the  edifying  lives  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  Protestants,  now  living,  in  this  country. 

My  answer,  dear  sir,  in  brief,  to  your  concluding  objections. 
Is  that  I,  rs  well  as  Baronius,  Bellarmin,  and  other  Catholic 
writers,  nave  unequivocally  admitted  that  some  few  of  our  pon- 
tiffs have  disgraced  themselves  by  their  crimes,  and  given  just 
cause  of  scandal  to  Christendom  ;*  but  I  have  remarked  that 
the  credit  of  our  cause  is  not  affected  by  the  personal  conduct  of 
particular  pastors,  who  succeed  one  another  in  a  regular  way, 
in  the  manner  that  the  credit  of  yours  is  by  the  behaviour  of 
your  founders,  who  professed  to  have  received  extraordinary 
commission  from  God  to  reform  religion.^    I  acknowledge,  with 
the  same  unreservedness,  that  the  lives  of  a  great  proportion  of 
Catholics  in  this  and  other  parts  of  the  church,  is  a  disgrace  to 
that  holy  Catholic  church  which  they  profess  to  believe  in. 
Unhappy  members  of  the  true  religion,  by  whom  ihe  name  of 
God  (and  his  holy  church)  is  blasphemed  among  the  nations ! 
Rom.  ii.  24.     Unhappy  Catholics,  who  live  enemies  of  the  cross 
of  Christ,  whose  end  is  destruction,  who  mind  only  earthly 
things !  Philip  iii.  IS.     But,  it  must  needs  be  that  scandals 
should  come  :  nevertheless,  wo  to  that  man  by  whom  the  scandal 
cometh!  Mat.  xviii.  7.     In  short,  I  bear  a  willing  testimony  to 
the  public  and  private  worth  of  very  many  of  my  Protestant 
countrymen,  of  different  religions,  as  citizens,  as  subjects,  as 
friends,  as  children,  as  parents,  as  moral  men,  and  as  Chris- 
tians, in  the  general  sense  of  the  word ;  still  I  must  say  that  I 
find  the  best  of  them  far  short  of  the  holiness,  which  is  prescrib- 
ed in  the  Gospel  and  is  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  those  saints, 
whom  I  have  mentioned.     On  this  subject  I  will  quote  an  au- 
thority which  I  think  you  will  not  object  to.     Dr.  Hey  says  : 
"  In  England,  I  could  almost  say,  we  are  too  little  acquainted 
with  contemplative  religion.     The  monk  painted  by  Sterne, 
may  give  us  a  more  favourable  idea  of  it,  than  our  prejudices 
generally  suggest.     I  once  travelled  with  a  recolet,  and  con- 
versed with  a  minim  at  his  convent :  and  they  both  had  that 
kind  of  character  which  Sterne  gives  to  his  monk :  that  refine- 
ment of  body  and  miifd ;  that  pure  glow  of  meliorated  passion, 
that  polished  piety  and  humanity."J    In  a  former  letter  to  your 
society,  I  have  stated  that  smcere  humility,  by  which,  from  ik 


*  See  Letter II.  or,  Supremacy. 

i  Lectures  in  Divinity,  vol.  i.  p.  364. 


tlbid. 


193 


Letter  XXJl. 


4  ,r-* 


thorough  knowledge  of  our  sins  and  misery,  we  become  little  in 
our  own  eyes,  and  try  to  avoid,  rather  than  to  gain  the  praise 
and  notice  of  others,  is  the  very  groundwork  of  all  other  Chris- 
tian virtues.  It  has  been  objected  to  Protestants,  ever  since  the 
defection  of  thoir  arrogant  patriarch,  Luther,  that  they  have 
said  little,  and  have  appeared  to  understand  less,  of  this  essen- 
tial virtue.  I  might  say  the  same  with  respect  to  the  necessity 
of  an  entire  subjugation  of  our  other  congenial  passions,  avarice, 
lust,  anger,  intemperance,  envy,  and  sloth,  a^  I  have  said  of 
pride  and  vain  glory ;  but  I  pass  over  these,  to  say  a  few  words 
of  certain  maxims  expressly  contained  in  Scripture.  It  cannot 
then  be  detued  that  our  Saviour  said  to  the  rich  young  man,  If 
thou  wilt  he  perfect,  go  sell  all  thou  hast  and  give  to  the 
poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasures  in  heaven  ;  or  that  he  de- 
clared, on  another  occasion.  There  are  eunuchs  who  have  made 
themselves  eunuchs  (continent)  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake. 
He  that  is  able  to  receive  it,  let  him  receive  it.  Mat.  xix.  12. 
Now  it  is  notorious  that  this  life  of  voluntary  poverty  and  per- 
petual chastity,  continues  to  be  vowed  and  observed  by  great 
numbers  of  both  sexes  in  the  Catholic  church ;  while  it  is  no- 
thing more  than  a  subject  of  ridicule  to  the  best  of  Protestants. 
Again  :  "  that  we  ought  to  fast,  is  a  truth  more  manifest  than  it 
should  here  need  be  proved."  I  here  use  the  word '  of  the 
church  of  England,  in  her  Homily  iv.  p.  11  ;  conformably 
with  which  doctrine,  your  church  enjoins,  in  her  Common 
Prayer  Book,  the  same  days  of  fasting  and  abstinence  as  the 
Catholic  church  does,  namely,  the  forty  days  of  Lent,  the  em- 
ber days,  all  the  Fridays  in  the  year,  he, ;  nevertheless,  where 
is  the  Protestant  to  be  found,  who  will  submit  to  the  mortifica- 
tion of  fasting,  even  to  obey  his  own  church  ?  I  may  add,  that 
Christ  enjoins  constant  prayer,  Luke  xviii.  1 ;  conformably  to 
which  injunction,  the  Catholic  church  requires  her  clergy,  at 
least,  from  the  subdeacon  up  to  the  Pope,  daily  to  say  the  seven 
canonical  hours,  consisting  chiefly  of  Scriptural  psalms  and 
tessons,  and  which  take  up  in  the  recital,  near  an  hour  and  a 
half,  in  addition  to  their  other  devotions  :  now  what  pretext  had 
the  Protestant  clergy,  whose  pastoral  duties  are  so  much  light- 
er then  ours,  to  lay  aside  these  inspired  prayers,  except  in  devo- 
tion ?  Luther  himself  said  his  office,  for  some  time  after  his 
apostasy. — But  to  conclude ,  as  it  is  of  so  much  importance  to 
ascertain  which  is  the  holy  church,  mentioned  in  your  creed ; 
and  as  you  can  follow  no  better  rule  for  this  purpose  than  to 
judge  of  the  tree  by  its  fruits,  so  let  me  advise  you  and  your 
friends  to  make  use  of  every  means  in  your  power  to  compare 


Letter  XXIII. 


133 


come  little  m 
lin  the  praise 
1  other  Chris, 
ver  since  the 
at  they  have 
of  this  essen- 
the  necessity 
ions,  avarice, 
have  said  of 
r  a  few  words 
e.     It  cannot 
oung  man,  If 
give   to   the 
►r  that  he  de- 
ko  have  made 
heaven's  sake. 
Mat.  xix.  12. 
erty  and  per- 
ved  by  great 
^hile  it  is  no- 
f  Protestants, 
mifest  than  it 
word '  of  tile 
conformably 
ler  Common 
inence  as  the 
L<ent,  the  em- 
heless,  where 
he  mortifica- 
lay  add,  that 
nformably  to 
er  clergy,  at 
say  the  seven 
psalms  and 
1  hour  and  a 
t  pretext  had 
much  light- 
cept  in  devo- 
me  after  iiis 
nportance  to 
your  creed; 
pose  than  to 
)u  and  your 
•  to  compare 


regular  families,  places  of  education,  and  especially  ecclesiasti- 
cal establishments  of  the  different  communions,  with  each  other, 
as  to  morality  and  piety,  and  to  decide  for  yourselves  according 
to  what  you  observe  in  them. 

I  am,  he 

J.M. 


LETTER  XXIIL 
To  MMES  BROWJV,  Esq.  Sfc. 

OJ^  DIFIA'E  ATTESTATION  OF  SANCTITY. 

Dear  Sir, 

Having  demonstrated  the  distinctive  holiness  of  the  Catholic 
church,  in  her  doctrine,  her  practices,  and  her  fruits  of  sanctity, 
I  am  prepared  to  show  that  God  himself  has  borne  testimony  to 
her  holiness,  and  to  those  very  doctrines  and  practices,  which 
Protestants  object  to  as  unholy  and  superstitious,  by  the  many 
incontestable  miracles  he  has  wrought  in  her  and  in  their  hr 
vour,  from  the  age  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present  age. 

The  learned  Protestant  advocates  of  revelation,  such  as  Gro- 
tius,  Abbadie,  Paley,  Watson,  &;c.  in  defending  this, common 
cause  against  Infidels,  all  agree  in  the  sentiment  of  the  last 
named,  that  "  Miracles  are  the  criterion  of  truth."  Accordingly 
they  observe,  that  both  Moses,  Exod.  iv.  xiv.  JSfumh.  xvi.  29,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  0^0^)137,38. — xiv.  12. — xv.24.  constantly  appealed 
to  the  prodigies  they  wrought,  in  attestation  of  their  divine  mis- 
sion and  doctrine.  Indeed  the  whole  history  of  God's  people, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  down  to  the  time  of  our  Bless- 
ed Saviour,  was  nearly  a  continued  series  of  miracles.*  The 
latter,  so  far  from  confining  the  power  of  working  them  to  his 
own  person  or  time,  expressly  promised  the  same,  and  even  a 
greater  power  of  this  nature  to  his  disciples,  Mark  xvi.  17. 
John  xiv.  12.  For  both  the  reasons  here  mentioned,  namely, 
that  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  illustrate  the  society  of  his 
chosen  servants,  both  under  the  law  of  nature  and  the  written 
law,  with  frequent  miracles,  and  that  Christ  promised  a  con- 

*  To  say  nothing  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  the  Water  of  Jealousy,  and  the 
superabundant  harvest  of  the  sabbatical  year,  it  is  incontestable,  from  the  Gos- 
pel of  St.  John  V.  2,  that  the  probatical  pond  was  endowed  by  an  angel  with  a 
.niraculous  power  of  healing  every  kind  of  disease,  in  the  time  of  Christ. 


134 


Letter  XXin. 


tiiiuance  of  them  to  his  disciples  under  the  new  law,  we  are  led 
to  expect  that  the  true  church  should  be  distinguished  by  mira- 
cles, wrought  in  her,  and  in  proof  of  her.     Accordingly  the 
fathers  and  doctors  of  the  Catholic  church,  among  other  proofs 
in  her  favour,  have  constantly  appealed  to  miracles,  by  which 
she  is  illustrated,  and  reproached  their  contemporary  heretics 
and  schismatics  with  the  want  of  them.     Thus  St.  Irena3us,  a 
disciple  of  St.  Polycarp,  who  himself  was  a  disciple  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  reproaches  the  heretics,  against  whom  he  writes 
that  they  could  not  give  sight  to  the  blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf, 
cast  out  devils,  or  raise  the  dead  to  life,  as  he  testifies  was  frc 
quently  done  in  the  true  church.*  Thus  also  his  contemporary, 
Tertullian,  speaking  of  the  heretics,  says :  "  I  wish  to  see  the 
miracles  they  have  wrought."f     St.  Pacian,  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury   writing  against  the  schismatic  Novatus,  scornfully  asks : 
"  Has  he  the  gift  of  tongues  or  prophecy  ?  Has  he  restored  tlie 
dead  to  life?" J     The  great  St.  Augustin,  in  various  passages 
of  his  works,  refers  to  the  miracles  wrought  in  the  Catholic 
church,  in  evidence  of  her  veracity.^     St.  Nicetas,  bishop  of 
Treves,  in  the  sixth  century,  advises  queen  Clodosind,  in  order 
to  convert  her  husband,  Alboin,  king  of  the  Lombards,  from 
Arianism,  to  induce  him  to  send  confidential  messengers  to  wit- 
ness the  miracles  wrought  at  the  tombs  of  St.  Martin,  St.  Ger- 
manus,  or  St.  Hilary,  in  giving  sight  to  tlie  blind,  speech  to  the 
dumb,  &;c. ;  adding :  "  Are  such  things  done  in  tlie  churches  of 
the  Arians  .'*"||     About  the  same  time,  Levigild,  king  of  the 
Goths  in  Spain,  an  Arian,  who  was  converted,  or  nearly  so,  by 
his  Catholic  son,  St.  Hermengild,  reproached  his  Arian  bishops 
that  no  miracles  were  wrought  among  them,  as  was  the  case, 
he  said,  ariong  the  Catholics. If     The  seventh  century  was  il- 
lustrated by  the  miracles  of  our  apostle  St.  Augustin,  of  Can- 
terbury, wrought  in  confirmation  of  the   doctrine  which  he 
taught,  as  was  recorded  on  his  tomb  j**  and  this  doctrine,  by 

•  Lib.  ii.  contra  Haer.  c.  31.  t  Lib.  Dc  Praescr. 

X  Ep.  ii.  ad  Symphor. 

f  *'  Dubitamus  nos  ejus  Ecclesiee  condere  gremio,  quee  usque  ad  confessionem 
g;eneris  humani  ad  Apostolica  sede,  per  successionem  Episcoporum  (frustra 
haerelicis  circumlatrantibus,  et  partim  plebis  ipsius  judicio,  partim  Conciliorum 
gravitate,  partim  etiam .Wtracu/orum  majeHate  damnatis)  culmen  auctoritatisob- 
tinuit."— -De  Utilit.  Cred.  c.  iv. 

II  Labbe's  Concil.  lom  v.  p.  835.  IT  Greg.  Turon.  1.  ix.  c.  15. 

••  "  Hie  requiescit  D.  Augustinus,  &c.  qui  operatione  miraculorum  suffultiis, 
Edelberthum  Regem  ac  gcntcm  illius  ab  idolorum  cultu  ad  fidem  Christi  con- 
vertit." — Bed.  Eccles.  Hist.  1.  ii.  c.  3.  See,  in  particular,  the  account  of  thi> 
Hiiat's  restoring  tight  to  a  blind  man  iu  confirmation  of  his  doctrine.    Ibid.  c.  2. 


the  confes 
CaliioliC^ 
doctor,  sp 
thus :  "  C 
author  of 
prodigies 
St.  Berns 
miracles, 
Catholic 
of  Bellarr 
not  help 
iicloptiiig 
Irinc  and 
prove  the 
of  mirach 
himself  p 
which  it 
Anabaptis 
made  an 
or  (Ircami 
of  his  vis 
must  glor 
lliey  (the 
111  a  Avhoh 

Such  h: 
ters  court 
•  uir  ol  til 
will  now  i 
itf  unqucs 
during  th 

No  Ch 
apostles ; 
the  visioi 
niigel  of  1 
iipr  of  hi: 
mony  of  1 
pie  of  the 
that  the  v 
restrainec 


*  The  Ci 
phrey's  Jesi 
t  Ric.  a  i 
k  Maiiliii 
II  Luth.  r 


Letter  XXIII, 


135 


\r,  we  are  led 
lied  by  niira- 
:ordingIy  the 

other  proofs 
is,  by  which 
rary  heretics 
.  Irenajus,  a 
3  of  St.  John 
•m  he  writes, 

to  the  deaf, 
ifies  was  fre* 
ntemporary, 
ti  to  see  the 
;  fourth  cen- 
nfully  asks: 
restored  the 
)us  passages 
;he  Catholic 
s,  bishop  of 
ind,  in  order 
bards,  from 
igers  to  wit- 
in,  St.  Ger- 
peech  to  the 

churches  of 
king  of  the 
early  so,  by 
rian  bishops 
is  the  caM, 
tury  was  11- 
tin,  of  Can- 
e  which  he 
doctrine,  by 


i  confessionen 
>orum  (frustra 
n  Conciliorum 
auctoritatiaob* 

c.  c.  15. 

arum  stifTultii!, 
m  Christi  con- 
ccount  of  thii 
oe.    Ibid.  c.  2. 


the  confession  of  the  learned  Protestants,  was  purely  the  Roman 
Catholic*  In  the  eleventh  century,  we  hear  a  celebrated 
doctor,  speaking  of  the  proofs  of  the  Catholic  religion,  exclaim 
thus :  "  O  Lord  !  if  what  we  believe  is  an  error,  thou  art  the 
author  of  it,  since  it  is  confirmed  amongst  us  by  those  signs  and 
prodigies  which  could  not  be  wrought  but  by  thee."f  In  short, 
St.  Bernard,  St.  Dominic,  St.  Xavier,  &,c.  all  appealed  to  the 
miracles,  which  God  wrought  by  their  hands  in  proof  of  the 
Catholic  doctrine.  I  need  not  mention  the  controversial  works 
of  Bellarmin  and  other  modern  schoolmen ;  nevertheless,  I  can- 
nr.t  help  observing,  that  even  Luther,  when  the  Anabaptists, 
iidopting  his  own  principles,  had  proceeded  to  excesses  of  doc- 
trine and  practice  which  he  disapproved  of,  required  them  to 
prove  their  authority  for  their  innovations  by  the  performance 
of  miracles !  J  You  will  naturally  ask,  dear  sir,  how  Luther 
himself  got  rid  of  the  argument  implied  by  this  requisition, 
which  it  is  evident,  bore  as  strongly  against  him,  as  against  the 
Anabaptists  ?  On  one  occasion,  he  answered  thus :  "  1  have 
made  an  agreement  with  the  Lord  not  to  send  me  any  visions, 
OP  dreams,  or  angels,"^^  Sic.  On  another  occasion,  he  boasts 
of  his  visions  as  follows :  "  I  also  was  in  spirit,"  and,  "  if  I 
must  glory  in  what  belongs  to  me,  I  have  seen  more  spirits  than 
lliey  (the  Swinkfeldians,  who  denied  the  real  presence)  will  see 
in  a  whole  3^ear."|| 

Such  has  been  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  and  Catholic  wri- 
ters concerning  miracles  in  general,  as  divine  attestations  in  fa- 
'  Mu-  ol  that  church  in  which  God  is  pleased  to  work  them.  1 
will  now  mention,  or  refer  to  a  few  particular  miraculous  events 
if  unquestionable  evidence,  which  have  illustrated  this  church, 
during  the  eighteen  centuries  of  her  existence. 

No  Christian  questions  the  miracles  and  prophecies  of  the 
apostles ;  and  if  they  do  not,  wliy  should  any  Christian  question 
the  vision  and  prophecy  of  the  apostolic  saint  Polycarp,  the 
atigel  of  the  church  of  Smyrna,  Rev-  ii.  8,  concerning  the  man- 
iipr  of  his  future  marty  '  )m,  namely,  by  fire. ''IT  or  the  testi- 
mony of  his  episcopal  correspondent,  who  was  likewise  a  disci- 
pie  of  the  apostles,  St.  Icnatius  bishop  of  Antioch,  who  testifies 
that  the  wild  beasts,  let  loose  upon  the  martyrs,  were  frequently 
restrained  by  a  divine  power  from  hurting  them  ?     In  conse 

*  The  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg,  Ssec.  6.  Bale.    In  Act.  Rom.  Pont.  Hunh 
phrey's  Jesuit,  &c. 
t  Ric.  a  S.  Vict,  de  Trinit.  1.  i.  t  Sleidan. 

{  Manlius  in  loc.  commun.     Sec  Brierlcy's  Apology,  p.  448. 
II  Lulh.  ad  Senat.  Civil.  Germ.  If  Gcuuiue  Acts,  by  Ruinart. 

15 


ii56 


Letter  XXITL 


m 


C'f* 


f 


IT 


quence  of  this  he  prayed  that  it  might  not  be  the  case  with 
him.*  St.  Irenseus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  was  the  disciple  of  St. 
Polycarp,  and  like  him,  an  illustrious  martyr :  shall  we  then 
call  in  question  his  testimony,  when  he  declares,  as  I  have  no- 
ticed above,  that  miracles,  even  to  the  revival  of  the  dead,  fre- 
quently took  place  in  the  Catholic  church,  but  never  among  the 
heretics  ?f  Or  shall  we  disbelieve  that  of  the  learned  Origen, 
in  the  next  century,  who  says  that  it  was  usual  with  the  Chris- 
tians of  his  time  to  drive  away  devils,  heal  the  sick,  and  foretel 
things  to  come  :  adding,  "  God  is  my  witness,  I  would  not  re^ 
commend  the  religion  of  Jesus  by  fictitious  stories,  but  only  b\ 
clear  and  certain  facts."|  One  of  Origen's  scholars  was  St. 
Gregory,  bishop  of  Neocesarea,  surnamed  Tkaumaturgus,  or 
Wonderworker,  for  the  numerous  .and  astonishing  miracles 
which  God  wrought  by  his  means.  Many  of  these,  even  to  the 
stopping  the  course  of  a  flood,  and  the  moving  of  a  mountain, 
are  recorded  by  the  learned  fathers,  who,  soon  after,  wrote  his 
life.<§  St.  Cyprian,  the  great  ornament  of  the  third  century, 
recounts  several  miracles  which  took  place  in  it,  some  of  wliicli 
prove  the  blessed  eucharist  to  be  a  sacrifice,  and  the  lawfulness 
of  receiving  it  under  one  kind.  In  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century  happened  that  wonderful  miracle,  when  the  emperor 
Julian  the  Apostate,  attempting  to  rebuild  the  temple  of  Jerusa- 
lem, in  order  to  disprove  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  concerning 
it,  Dan.  IX.  27,  tempests,  whirlwinds,  earthquakes,  and  fiery 
eruptions  convulsed  the  scene  of  the  undertaking,  maiming  or 
blasting  the  thousands  of  Jews  and  other  labourers  employed  in 
the  work,  and,  in  short,  rendering  the  completion  of  it  utterly 
impossible.  In  the  mean  time  a  luminous  cross,  surrounded 
with  a  circle  of  rays,  appeared  in  the  heavens,  and  numerous 
crosses  were  impressed  on  the  bodies  and  garments  of  the  per- 
sons present.  These  prodigies  are  so  strongly  attested  by  al- 
most all  the  authors  of  the  age,  Arians  and  Pagans,  no  less  than 
Catholics,  II  that  no  one  but  a  downright  sceptic  <  an  call  them  in 
question.  They  have  accordingly  been  acknowledged  by  the 
niost  learned  Protestants. IF     Another  miracle,  which  may  vie 

•  Ep.  nd  Roman.  t  Contra  Ilffir.  1.  ii.  c.  31. 
if  Contra  Ccls.  1.  i. 

♦  Grepf.  Nyss.  Euseb.  1.  vi.  St.  Basil,  St.  Jerom. 

II  Besides  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers,  St.  GrPs:ory  Nazianzen,  St.  Chryjo'- 
toai,  St.  Aml)rosc,  unci  of  the  historians  Socrates,  So/omrn  Throdoret,  Scv.  tho«c 
events  are  also  ncknowl  dgcd  by  Philostorgius  the  Arian,  Ammianus  Marcclli- 
mis  the  Tagan,  kc. 

t  Bishop  Warhnrton  published  a  Itook,  ralbd  Julian,  in  proof  of  these  miri- 
clcs.     They  urc  also  acknowledged  by  Bishop  Halifax,  Disc.  p.  2J. 


formed 
Epistle 
works, 
elated  \ 


Letter  XXIIL 


137 


with  the  above  mentioned,  for  the  number  and  quality  of  its 
witnesses,  took  place  in  the  following  century,  at  Typassus  in 
Africa ;  where  a  whole  congregation  of  Catholics  being  assem- 
bled to  perform  their  devotions,  contrary  to  the  orders  of  the 
Arian  tyrant,  Hunnerick,  their  right  hands  were  chopped  off,  and 
their  tongues  cut  out  to  the  roots,  by  his  command :  nevertheless 
they  continued  to  speak  as  perfectly  as  they  did  before  this 
biurbarous  act.*  I  pass  over  numberless  miracles  recorded  by 
SS.  Basil,  Athanasius,  Jerom,  Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  Augustin, 
iiiid  the  other  illustrious  fathers  and  church  historians,  who 
adorned  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries  of  Christianity ; 
and  shall  barely  mention  one  miracle,  which  both  the  last  men- 
tioned holy  bishops  relate,  as  having  been  themselves  actual 
witnesses  of  it,  that  of  restoring  sight  to  a  blind  man,  by  the 
application  to  his  eyes  of  a  cloth  which  had  touched  the  relics 
ol'SS.  Gervasius,  and  Protaslus.f  The  latter  saint,  one  of  the 
most  enlightened  men  who  ever  handled  a  pen,  gives  an  ac- 
count, in  the  work  to  which  I  have  just  referred,^  of  a  great 
number  of  miracles,  wrought  in  Africa,  during  his  episcopacy, 
by  the  relics  of  St.  Stephen,  and  among  the  rest,  of  seventy 
wrought  in  his  own  diocese  of  Hippo,  and  some  of  them  in  his 
own  presence,  in  the  course  of  two  years ;  among  these  was  the 
restoration  of  three  dead  bodies  to  life. 

From  this  notice  of  the  great  St.  Augustin  of  Hippo,  in  the 
fifth  century,  I  proceed  to  observe,  concerning  St.  Augustin  of 
Canterbury,  at  the  end  of  the  sixtli,  that  the  miracles  wrought 
by  iilm,  were  not  only  recorded  on  his  tomb,  and  in  the  history 
i)f  the  venerable  Bede  and  other  writers,  but  that  an  account  of 
them  was  transmitted,  at  the  time  they  took  place,  by  St.  Grc- 
irory  to  Eulogius,  patriarch  of  St.  Alexandria,  in  an  Epistle, 
still  extant,  in  wljicli  this  Pope  compares  tliem  with  those  per- 
formed bv  the  apostles.'^  The  latter  saint  wrote  likewise  an 
Epistle  to  St.  Augustin  iiimself,  which  is  still  extant  in  his 
works,  and  in  Bcde's  history,  cautioning  him  against  being 
elated  with  vain  glory,  on  the  occasion  of  these  miracles,  and 


•  The  vouchors  for  this  miracle  are  Victor  Vitensis,  Hist.  Persec.  Vandal.  1. 
lii.lhe  empfiror  Jiistiiiiai),  who  declaros  that  he  had  seen  8ome  of  the  sufTcrcr^, 
lOnilex  Just.  Tit.  '.J7,  tlio  (IrPcU  historian  rroco|)ins,  who  says  he  Iind  conversed 
[with  them,  L.  i.  de  Hell.  Vand,  c.  H.  iT.neas  of  Gezu,  h  Plutonic  philosopher, 
I  who  haviii<;  ex  tniiiind  their  mouths,  protested  that  he  was  not  fo  much  surprised 
|:it  their  heinjfahle  to  talk  as  at  their  lieinjjahle  to  live.  I)e  Inimorl.Anim.  Victor, 
ITiiron.  Isid.  Ilispal.  (Sre;r.  Miiu:n.  &c.  The  miracle  ii  Admitted  l)y  Abbndie, 
|1)o(1wp1I,  Moshnim,  and  other  learned  Protestants. 

+  Any;.  De  Civit.  Dei,  1.  xxii.  p.  U.  J  Ibid.  1.  xxii. 

)  Kpist.  S.  Gre^.  1.  vii. 


138 


Letter  XXIII. 


reminding  him  that  God  had  bestowed  the  power  of  working 
them,  not  on  his  own  account,  but  for  the  conversion  of  the 
English  nation.*  On  the  sup[)osition  that  our  apostle  had 
wrought  no  miracles,  what  farces  must  these  Epistles  have  ex- 
hibited among  the  first  characters  of  the  Christian  world. 

Among  the  numberless  and  well  attested  piracies  which  the 
histories  of  the  middle  ages  present  to  our  vijw,  I  stop  at  those 
of  the  illustrious  abbot  St.  Bernard,  in  the  twelfth  century,  to 
whose  sanctity  the  most  eminent  Protestant  writers  have  borne 
Iiigh  testimony.!  This  saint,  in  the  life  of  his  friend,  St.  Ma- 
lachy  of  Armagh,  among  other  miracles,  mentions  the  cure  of 
the  withered  hand  of  a  youth,  by  the  ap})lication  of  his  friend's 
dead  hand  to  it.  J  But  this,  and  all  the  miracles  which  St. 
Bernard  mentions  of  other  saints,  quite  disappear,  when  com- 
pared with  those  wrought  by  himself;  which  for  their  splendour 
and  publicity,  never  were  exceeded.  All  France,  Germany, 
Switzerland,  and  Italy  bore  testimony  to  them ;  and  prelates, 
princes,  and  the  emperor  himself  were  often  the  spectators  of 
them.  In  a  journey  which  the  saint  made  into  Germany,  he 
was  followed  by  Philip,  archdeacon  of  Liege,  who  was  sent  by 
Sampson,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  to  observe  hU  "  ns.^  This 
writer  accordingly,  gives  an  account  of  a  va?"  ber  of  in- 

stantaneous cures,  which  the  holy  abbot  penormed  on  the 
lame,  the  blind,  the  paralytic,  and  other  diseased  persons,  with 
all  the  circumstances  of  them.  Speaking  of  those  wrought  at 
Cologne,  he  says  :  "  They  were  not  performed  a  corner ; 
but  the  whole  city  was  witness  to  them.  If  any  one  doubts  or 
is  curious,  he  may  easily  satisfy  himself  on  the  spot,  especially 
as  some  of  them  were  wrought  on  persons  of  no  inconsiderable 
rank  and  reputation. "||  A  great  number  of  these  miracles  were 
performed  in  express  confirmation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine 
which  he  defended.  Thus  preaching  at  Sarlat  against  the  im- 
pious and  iin])ure  Ilenricians,  a  spj'cies  of  Albigensos,  he  took 
«ome  loaves  of  bread  and  blessed  them  :  after  which  he  said: 
"  By  this  you  shall  know  that  1  preach  to  you  the  true  doc- 
trine, and  the  heretics  a  false  doctrine  :  all  your  sick,  who  sfutll 
eat  of  this  bread,  sfiaU  recover  tlitir  health  f  whicli  prediction 

V 

•  Ibid,  et  Hist.  Bed,  1.  i.  c.31. 

•t  Liithnr,  C;tlviii,  Biioer,  (Kcolompadius,  Jewel,  Whitaker,  Mosheim,  iVr. 
\  Villi  Mttliich.  iiitJT  Oper.  Hern. 

♦  St.  Ueniurtrs  LiCo  wits  written  by  his  throe  rontemporarien,  William,  nh- 
t)otorSt.  Thierry,  Arnold,  abbot  of  lionevaux,  and  (ieoflery,  the  taint's  xerro- 
tary,  and  by  other  enrly  writers',  hia  own  oloquont  Epistles,  aud  other  work!, 
furnish  many  p»r(iciilar!<. 

I  Published  by  Mabillon. 


Letter  XXIII. 


139 


!r,  Mosheim,  iVr. 


vas  confirmed  by  the  event.*  St.  Bernard  himself,  in  the  most 
celebrated  of  his  works,f  addressed  to  Pope  Eugenius  III.  re- 
fers to  the  miracles,  M'hich  God  enabled  him  to  work,  by  way 
of  justifying  himself  for  having  preached  up  the  second  cru- 
sade; J  and,  in  his  letter  to  the  people  of  Thoulouse, he  men- 
tions his  having  detected  the  heretics  among  them,  not  only  by 
words,  but  also  by  miracles.<§ 

The  miracles  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  the  apostle  of  India,  who 
was  cotemporary  with  Luther,  in  number,  splendour,  and  pub- 
licity, may  vie  with  St.  Bernard's.     They  consisted  in  foretell- 
ing future  events,  speaking  unknown  languages,  calming  tem- 
pests at  sea,  curing  various  maladies,  and  raising  the  dead  to 
life ;  and  though  they  took  place  in  remote  countries,  yet  they 
were  verified  in  the  same,  soon  after  the  saint's  death,  by  vir- 
tue of  a  commission  from  John  III.  king  of  Portugal,  and  they 
were  generally  acknowledged,  not  only  by  Europeans  of  differ- 
ent religions  in  the  Indies,  ||  but  also  by  the  native  Mahometans 
and  Pagans.lF     At  the  same  time  with  this  saint  lived  the  holy 
contemplative  St.  Philip  Neri,  in  proof  of  whose  miracles  three 
hundred  witnesses,  some  of  them  persons  of  high  rank,  were 
juridically  examined.**     The  following  century  was  Illustra- 
ted by  the  shining  virtues  and  attested  miracles,  even  to  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales,f  f  as  it  was 
also  by  those  of  St.  John  Francis  Regis,  concerning  which, 
twenty-two  bishops  of  Languedoc  wrote  thus  to  Pope  Clement 
XI :  "  We  are  witnesses  that,  before  the  tomb  of  F.  J.  F.  Regis, 
the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dumb  speak."l"| 
You  will  understand,  dear  sir,  that  I  mention  but  a  few  of  the 
saints,  and  with  respect  to  these,  but  a  few  of  their  miracles,  as 
my  object  is  to  prove  the  single  fact  tliat  God  has  illustrated 
the  Catholic  church,  chiody  by  means  of  his  saints,  with  unde- 
niable miracles,  in  tlu;  different  ages  of  her  existence.     What 
now  will  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  friends  say  to  the  evidence, 
here  adduced  ?     Will  you  say  that  all  the  lioly  fathers,  up  to 
the  apostolic  age,  and  that  all  the  ecclesiastical  writers  down  to 
the  Reformation,  and,  since  this  period,  that  all  Catholic  au- 
thors, prelates  and  officials,  have  been  in  a  league  to  deceive 


•  C.eof.  ir  Vit.  Born, 
t  l)e  ConsidcrHtioMP 


t  I)e  Conxiil.  1.  ii.         «  Ad  Tolofi.  p.p.  041. 
of  Mnckhiyt,  Hsiklpu?,  itrul  Tavcrnior,  all  rrotestant*, 


II  See  Ihft  t«»!<timoiu  ^,_  ,  

in  l]ntihour*8  Life  of  St.  Xuvier,  traiiclatoil  liy  tlie  poet  Dryiten. 
K  Ihiil.  ••  Sop  Hnller'x  Faint!*' Lives,  May  26. 

tt  Seo  MarsollierV  Lifi'  of  St.  K.  do  Siiles,  traii.xlateil  by  Dr.  Coombes. 
\\  See  his  Life  l>y  Uiuibciitoii,  which  is  abridgcj  by  Cutler,  June  16. 


H 


140 


Letter  XXIII. 


■I'l 


mankind  ?     In  short,  that  they  are  all  liars  and  impostors  alike  ? 
Such,  in  fact,  is  the  absurd  and  horrible  system,  which,  to  get 
rid  of  the  DIVINE  ATTESTATION,  in  favour  of  the  Catho- 
lie  church,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Conyers  Middleton  has  declared 
for  ;  as  have  most  Protestant  w riters  who  have  handled  the  sub- 
ject, since  the  publication  of  his  Free  Inquiry.     This  system, 
however,  which  is  a  libel  on  human  nature^  does  not  only  lead 
to  general  scepticism  in  other  respects,  but  also  undermines  the 
credit  of  the  Gospel  itself.     For  if  all  the  ancient  fathers  and 
other  writers  are  to  be  disbelieved,  respecting  the  miracles  of  their 
times,  and  even  those  which  they  themselves  witnessed,  ujmn 
what  grounds  are  we  to  believe  them,  in  their  report  of  the 
miracles  which  they  had  heard  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  those 
main  props  of  the  Gospel  and  our  common  Christianity.''   Who 
knows  but  they  may  have  forged  all  the  contents  of  the  former, 
and  the  whole  history  of  the  latter  .'*    It  was  impossible  these 
consequences  should  escape  the  penetration  of  Middleton :  but 
a  worse  consequence,  in  his  opinion,  which  would  follow  from 
admitting  the  veracity  of  the  lioly  fathers,  namel}',  a  diviike  at- 
testation of  the  sanctity  of  the   Catholic  church,  banished  his 
dread  of  the  former.     Let  him  now  speak  to  this  point  for  him- 
self, in  his  own  flowing  periods.     He  begins  with  establishing 
an  important  fact,  which  I  also  Imve  been  labouring  to  prove, 
where  he  says:  "  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  claim  to  a  mira- 
culous power  was  universally  asserted  and  believed  in  all  Chris- 
tian countries  and  in  ail  ag«s  of  the  church,  till  the  time  of  the 
Reformation  :  for  ecclesiastical  history  makes  no  difierence  be- 
tween one  age  and  another,  but  carries  on  the  succession  of  its 
miracles,  as  of  all  other  common  events,  through  all  of  them  in- 
difl*erently  to  that  memorable  period.*    As  far  as  church  histo- 
rians can  illustrate  any  thing,  there  is  not  a  single  point,  in  nil 
history,  so  constantly,  explicitly,  and  unanimouhly  affirmed  by 
them  as  the  continual  succession  of  those  powers,  through  all 
ages,  from  the  earliest  father,  wlio  first  mentions  them,  down  to 
the  Reformation  ;  which  same  succession  is  still  further  deduced 
by  persons  of  the  same  eminent  character  for  probity,  learning; 
and  dignity,  in  the  Romish  cinn-ch,  to  this  very  day ;  so  that 
the  only  doubt  wliicii  can  remain  with  us  is,  whether  church 
historians  are  to  be  trusted  or  not :  for  if  any  credit  be  due  to 
them  in  the  present  case,  it  nuist  reach  to  all  or  none :  because 
the  reason  for  believing  thom  in  any  one  age  will  be  found  to 
be  of  equal  force  in  all,  as  far  as  it  depends  on  the  character  of 

(  •  Free  Inquiry,  lutroJuct.  Disc.  p.  xlv. 


Utter  XXIIL 


141 


die  persons  attesting,  or  on  the  thing  attested."*  We  shull 
now  hear  Dr.  Middleton's  decision  on  this  weighty  matter,  and 
upon  what  grounds  it  is  formed.  He  says :  "  The  prevailing 
opinion  of  Protestants,  namely,  of  Tillotsci.,  Marshal,  Dodwell, 
kc.  is,  that  miracles  continued  during  the  three  first  centunes. 
Dr.  Waterland  brings  them  down  to  the  fourth,  Dr.  Berimau  to 
the  fifth.  These  unwarily  betrayed  the  Protestant  cause  into 
the  hands  of  its  enemies :  for  it  was  in  those  primitive  ages, 
particularly  in  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth,  those  flourishing 
times  of  miracles,  in  which  the  chief  corruptions  of  Popery, 
inoniiery,  the  worship  of  relics,  invocation  of  saints,  prayers  for 
the  dead,  superstitious  use  of  images  and  of  sacraments  were 
introduced. "f  "  We  shall  find,  after  the  conversion  of  the 
Roman  empire,  the  greater  part  of  their  boasted  miracles  were 
uiouglit  either  by  monks,  or  relics,  or  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
Sic. :  wherefore,  if  we  admit  the  miracles,  we  must  admit  the 
rites  for  the  sake  of  which  they  were  wrought :  they  both  rest 
on  the  same  bottom. "J  "  Every  one  may  see  what  a  resem- 
hloMce  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  fourth  century,  as  they 
are  described  by  the  most  eminent  fathers  of  that  age,  bear  to 
the  present  rites  of  the  Popish  church,''^^  "  When  we  reflect  on 
the  surprising  confidence  with  which  the  fathers  of  the  fourth 
iige  afiirnied,  as  true,  what  they  themselves  had  forged,  or  knew 
to  be  forged,  it  is  natural  to  suspect  that  so  bold  a  defiance  ol 
truth  could  not  be  acquired  or  become  general  at  once,  but 
^  must  have  been  gradually  carried  to  that  height  by  the  exam- 
ple of  former  ages."]]  Such  are  the  grounds  on  which  this 
shameless  declaimer  accuses  all  the  most  holy  and  learned  men. 
whom  the  world  hns  produced  during  1800  years,  of  forgery 
ai.d  a  combination  to  cheat  mankind.  He  does  not  say  a  word 
10  show  that  the  combination  itself  is  either  probable  or  possi- 
ble ;  all  he  advairces  is,  that  this  liliel  on  human  nature,  is 
necessary  for  the  support  of  Protestantism ;  for  he  says,  and 
this  with  evident  truth  :  "  By  granting  the  Romanists  but  a 
Siugle  age  of  miracles,  after  the  time  of  the  apostles,  we  shall  be 
entangled  in  a  series  of  dilliculties,  whence  we  can  never  fairly 
extricate  ourselves,  till  we  tJlow  the  same  powers  also  to  the 
present  age. "IT 

Mclhinks  I  hear  some  of  your  society  thus  asking  me,  Do  you 
then  pretend  that  your  church  possesses  the  miraculous  poioers  at 


*  Ibid.  Preface,  p.  xv, 
X  Introd.  p.  Ixvi. 
H  IbiJ,  p,  Ixxxiv. 


^ 


i  Introd.  p.  li. 
(  Ibid.  Ixv. 
T  Ibid.  p.  xcvi. 


142 


Letter  XXJII. 


Ml" 


the  present  day  9  I  answer,  that  the  church  never  possessed 
miraculous  powers  in  the  sense  of  most  Protestant  writers,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  effect  cures  or  other  supernatural  events  at  her  mere 
pleasure :  for  even  the  apostles  could  not  do  this,  as  we  learn 
from  the  history  of  the  lunatic  child.  Mat.  xvii.  IG  :  but  this  I 
say,  that  the  Catholic  church,  being  always  the  beloved  spouse 
of  Christ,  Rev.  xxi.  9,  and  continuing  at  all  times  to  bring 
forth  children  of  heroical  sanctity,  God  fails  not  in  this 
any  more  than  in  past  ages,  to  illustrate  her  and  them  bv 
unquestionable  miracles :  accordingly  in  those  processes 
which  are  constantly  going  on,  at  the  apostolical  See,  for 
the  canonization  of  new  saints,*  fresh  miracles  of  a  rereiit 
date  continue  to  be  proved  with  the  highest  degree  of  evidence, 
as  I  can  testify  from  having  perused,  on  the  spot,  the  official 
printed  account  of  some  of  them. f  For  the  fnrtlier  satisfaction 
of  your  friends,  I  will  inform  them  that  I  have  had  satisfactory 
proof  that  the  astonishing  catastrophe  of  Louis  XVI.  and  his 
queen,  in  being  beheaded  on  a  scaffold,  was  foretold  by  a  nun  of 
Fougeres,  Soeur  Nativite,  twenty  years  before  it  happened,  and 
that  the  banishment  of  the  French  clergy  from  their  countrv, 
long  before  it  happened,  was  predicted  by  the  holy  French 
pilgrim,  Benedict  Labre,  whose  miracles  caused  the  conversion 
of  the  late  Rev.  INlr.  Thnyer,  nn  American  clergyman,  who 
being  at  Rome,  witnessed  several  of  them.  With  respect  to 
miraculous  cures  of  a  late  date,  I  have  the  most  respectable  at- 
testation of  several  of  them,  and  1  am  well  acquainted  with  four 
or  five  persons  who  have  experienced  tiiem.  The  followiiit!; 
facts  are  respectfully  attested,  but  at  nuu'h  greater  length,  by  tlic 
Rev.  Thomas  Sadler,  of  Trafford,  near  ]\lan<:hester,  and  the 
Rev.  J.  Crathorne,  of  Garswood,  near  Wigaii : — Joseph  Ijamli, 
of  Eccles,  near  Manchester,  now  twenty-eight  yvnr»  old,  on  ilic 
12th  of  August,  1B14,  foil  from  a  hay-rick,  four  yards  and  ;i 
half  high,  by  which  accident  it  was  conceived  the  spine  of  his 
back  was  broken.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  could  neither  walk  nor 
stand  without  <*nitches,  thtwn  to  the  second  of  October,  and  tliiii 
he  described  himself  as  feeling  the  most  ex(|iiislte  pain  in  his 
back.    On  that  day,  having  prevailed  with  nuich  difficulty  upon 


*  Among;  the  late  rBnoni7'»tion<>  nro  lliosp,  in  lfl07  and  IPOf?,  of  S.  F.  Cainr. 
r.iolo,  f(»iinclcr  of  the  Hpfj"!^''  Clerks;  olSl.  Anii^pla  do  Morrin,  foundress  of  the 
Urmliiic  Nuns,  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Iiunrnntioii,  Mllo.  Arnrio,  Arc.  Oneoftlis 
latest  »ieatifi<iitioiis  is  that  of  H.  Alfonso  Liijiiori,  hisliop  of  St.  A}i;!»lade  Goti. 

t  One  of  these,  proved  in  the  process  of  the  last  ninitioneJ  saint,  consistnl  in 
tho  «;ure  and  restoration  of  an  ainjrilnlal  Ortaul  of  a  woman,  who  was  til  the  point 
of  death  f'om  a  cancer. 


Letter  XXIIL 


143 


his  father,  who  was  then  a  Protestant,  to  take  him  in  a  cart  with 
his  wife  and  two  friends,  Thos.  Cutler  and  Eliz.  Dooley,  to 
Garswood,  near  Wigan,  where  the  hand  of  F.  Arrowsmith,  one 
of  the  Catholic  priests  v/ho  suffered  death  at  Lancaster,  for  the 
exercise  of  his  religion,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  is  preserved, 
and  has  often  caused  wonderful  cures,  he  got  himself  conveyed 
to  the  altar  rails  of  the  chapel,  and  there  to  be  signed,  on  his 
hack,  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  by  that  hand ;  when,  feeling  a 
particular  sensation  and  total  change  in  himself,  m^  he  expressed 
it,  he  exclaimed  to  his  wife,  Mary,  I  can  walk;  this  he  did  with- 
out any  help  whatever,  walking  first  into  an  adjoining  room  and 
thence  to  the  cart  which  conveved  him  home.  With  his  debili- 
ty,  his  pains  also  left  him,  and  his  back  has  continued  well  ever 
since.*  These  particulars,  as  they  were  respectively  witnesses 
of  them,  the  above  named  persons,  all  now  living,  are  ready  to 
declare  upon  oath.  I  have  attestations  of  incurable  cancers  and 
other  disorders  being  suddenly  remedied  by  the  same  instrument 
of  God's  bounty  J  but  it  would  be  a  tedious  work  to  transcribe 
thenn,  or  the  other  attestations  in  my  possession  of  a  similar  na- 
ture. 

Among  those  of  my  personal  acquaintance  who  have  experi- 
enced supernatural  cures,  I  will  mention  Mary  Wood,  now  liv- 
ing at  Taunton  Lodge,  where  several  other  witnesses  of  the 
.acts  1  am  going  to  state  live  with  her.  "  On  March  15,  1809, 
Mary  Wood,  in  attempting  to  open  a  sash  window,  pushed  her 
left  hand  through  a  pane  of  glass,  which  caused  a  very  large 
and  deep  transverse  wound  in  the  inside  of  the  left  arm,  and  di- 
vided the  muscles  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  tendons  that  lead 
to  the  hand;  from  which  accident,  she  not  only  suffered,  at 
times,  the  most  acute  pain,  but  was  from  the  period  I  first  saw 
iier  (March  15)  till  some  time  in  July,  totally  deprived  of  the 
use  of  her  hand  and  arm."f  What  passed  between  the  latter 
end  of  July,  when,  as  the  surgeon  elsewhere  says,  "  he  left  his 
patient,"  having  no  hopes  of  restoring  her,  till  the  Cth  of  Au- 
gust, on  the  night  of  nliich  she  was  perfectly  and  miraculously 
cured,  I  shall  copy  from  a  letter  to  me,  dated  Nov.  19,  1809 
by  her  amanuensis.  Miss  Maria  Hornyold.  "  The  surgeoa 
gave  little  or  no  hopes  of  her  ever  again  having  the  use  of  her 
liaiid,  which,  together  with  the  arm,  seemed  withered  and  some- 
wliat  contracted  j  only  saying,  in  some  years,  nature  might  give 


•  The  Rev.  Mr.  Sadler's  letter  to  me  is  dated  Aug.  6,  IfllT. 

t  This  account  is  copied  from  a  letter  to  Miss  F.  T.  Bird,  dated  Sept.  30, 
Ifl09,  liy  Mr.  Woodford,  an  eminent  surgeon  of  Taunton,  wlio  attended  Mary 
Wood. 


144 


Letter  XXIIL 


her  some  little  use  of  it,  which  was  considered  by  her  superiors  as 
a  mere  delusive  comfort.  Despairing  of  further  human  assistance 
towards  her  cure,  she  determined,  with  the  approbation  of  her 
said  superiors,  to  have  recourse  to  God,  through  the  intercession 
of  St.  Winefrid,  by  a  Novena.*  Accordingly  on  the  6th  of 
August  she  put  a  piece  of  moss,  from  the  saint's  well,  on  her 
arm,  continuing  recollected  and  praying,  he. ;  when,  to  her 
great  surprise,  the  next  morning  she  found  she  could  dress  her- 
self, put  her  arm  behind  her  and  to  her  head,  having  regained 
the  free  use  and  full  strength  of  it.  In  short,  she  was  perfectly 
cured  !"  In  this  state  I  myself  saw  her  and  examined  her  hand, 
a  few  years  afterwards,  and  in  the  same  state  she  still  continues, 
at  the  above  named  place,  with  many  other  highly  credible 
vouchers  who  are  ready  respectively  to  attest  these  particulars. 
"On  the  16th  of  the  month,  the  surgeon  was  sent  for;  and, 
being  asked  his  opinion  concerning  Mary  Wood's  arm,  he  gave 
no  hope  of  a  perfect  cure,  and  very  little  of  her  ever  having  even 
the  least  use  ofit;  when  she  being  introduced  to  him  and  show- 
ing him  the  arm,  which  he  thoroughly  examined  and  tried,  he 
was  so  aflected  at  the  sight  and  the  recital  of  the  manner  of  the 
cure,  as  to  shed  tears,  and  exclaim,  it  was  a  special  interposition 
of  Divine  Providence." 

I  shall  say  little  of  the  miraculous  cure  of  Winefrid  White,  a 
young  woman  of  Wolverhampton,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1805, 
at  Holywell,  having  published  a  detailed  account  of  it,  soon 
after  it  happened,  M'hich  work  has  been  republished  in  England 
and  in  Ireland. f  Let  it  suihce  to  say ;  1st,  that  the  disease 
was  one  of  the  most  alarming  topical  ones  which  are  knov/n, 
namely,  a  curvature  of  the  spine,  as  her  physician  and  surgeon 
ascertained,  who  treated  it  accordingly,  by  making  two  great 
issues,  one  on  each  side  of  the  spine,  of  which  the  patient's  back 
still  bears  the  marks ;  2dly,  that,  besides  the  most  acute  pains, 
throughout  the  whole  nervous  system,  and  particularly  in  the 
brain,  this  disease  of  the  spine  produced  a  hemiplegia  or  palsy 
oil  one  side  of  the  patient,  so  that  when  she  could  feebly  crawl, 
with  the  help  of  a  crutch  under  her  right  arm,  she  was  forced 
to  drag  her  left  leg  and  arm  after  her,  just  as  if  they  made  no 
part  of  her ;  3dly,  that  her  disorder  was  of  long  continuance, 
namely,  of  three  years  standing ;  though  not  in  the  same  de- 
gree, till  the  latter  part  of  that  time,  and  that  it  was  publicly 


9  Certain  prayers  continued  during  nino  days. 

t  By  Ceutjng  anij  BfowOi  Duke-strcet,  Grosvcnor-square,  Lonilon;  Coyne, 
Dublin. 


Utter  XXIV. 


145 


superiors  as 
n  assistance 
tion  of  her 
intercession 
the  6th  of 
ve\\  on  her 
len,  to  her 
I  dress  her- 
ig  regained 
IS  perfectly 
d  her  hand, 
I  continues, 
ly  credible 
particulars, 
t  for ;  and, 
m,  he  gave 
having  even 
n  and  show- 
iid  tried,  he 
inner  of  the 
nterposition 

id  White,  a 
June,  1805, 

of  it,  soon 
in  England 
the  disease 
are  known, 
ind  surgeon 
g  two  great 
tlent's  back 
icute  pains, 
larly  in  the 
firt  or  palsy 
ebly  crawl, 

was  forced 
By  made  no 
ontinuance, 
je  same  de- 
k^as  publicly 


•mlon;  Coyne, 


known  to  all  her  neighbours  and  a  great  many  others  j  4th]y, 
that  having  performed  the  acts  of  devotion  which  she  felt  her- 
self called  to  undertake,  and  having  bathed  in  the  fountain,  she, 
m  one  instant  of  time,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1805,  found  herself 
freed  from  all  her  pains  and  disabilities,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
walk,  run  and  jump,  like  any  other  young  person,  and  to  carry 
a  greater  weight  with  the  left  arm  than  she  could  with  the  right ; 
5thly,  that  she  has  continued  in  this  state  these  twelve  years 
down  to  the  present  time  j  lastly,  that  all  the  above-mentioned 
circumstances  have  been  ascertained  by  me  in  the  regular  ex- 
amination of  the  several  witnesses  of  them ;  being  persons  of 
different  religions,  situations  in  life  and  countries,  in  the  places 
of  their  respective  rcsitlence,  namely,  in  Staffordshire,  Lanca- 
shire, and  Wales,  the  authentic  documents  of  which  are  contain- 
ed in  the  work  referred  to  above.  Several  of  the  witnesses  are 
still  living,  as  is  Wincfrid  White  hercclf. 

I  am,  &c. 

J.M 


LETTER  XXIV 
To  JAMES  BROWK,  Esq.  ^c. 

OBJECTIONS   ANSWERED. 

Deaii  Sir, 
I  SUBSCRIBE  to  the  objection,  which  you  say  has  been  sug- 
gested to  you  by  your  learned  friend,  on  the  subject  of  miracles. 
Namely,  I  admit  that  a  vast  number  of  incredible  and  false 
miracles,  as  well  as  other  fables,  have  been  forged  by  some, 
and  believed  by  other  Catholics  in  every  age  of  the  church,  in- 
cluding that  of  the  apostles.*  I  agree  with  him  and  you  in  re- 
jecting the  Legenda  Aurca  of  Jacobus  de  Voragine,  the  Specu- 
lum of  Vincentius  Belluacensis,  the  Saints''  Lives  of  the  Patrician, 
Metaphrnstes,  and  scores  of  similar  legends,  stuffed  as  they  are, 
with  relations  of  miracles  of  every  description.  But,  sir,  are 
we  to  deny  the  truth  of  all  history,  because  there  are  number- 

•  St.  Jerom,  in  rejecting  certain  current  fables  concemina;  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Thecla,  mentions  a  priest  who  was  deposed  by  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  for  in- 
venting similar  stories.  Dc  Script.  Apo.xt. — •Pnj)e  (Jelasiiis,  in  the  5th  century, 
romlcnmcd  several  Apocliryphal  (Jospelsand  Kpistlcs.  and  legends  of  »aintB,  and 
umougtlio  latter  the  common  ones  of  St.  George. 


n 


146 


Letter  XXIK 


less  false  histories  ?  Are  we  to  queslion  the  four  evangelists, 
because  there  have  been  several  fabricated  Gospels  ?  Most  cer- 
tainly not :  but  we  must  make  the  best  use  we  can  of  the  dis- 
cernment and  judgment  which  God  has  given  us,  to  distinguish 
false  accounts  of  every  kind  from  those  which  are  true ;  and  we 
ought,  I  allow,  to  make  use  of  double  diligence  and  caution,  in 
examining  alleged  revelations  and  events  contrary  to  the  gene- 
ral laws  of  nature. 

Your  friend's  second  objection,  which  impeaches  the  dili- 
gence, integrity  and  discernment  of  the  cardinals,  prelates,  and 
other  ecclesiastics  at  Rome,  appointed  to  examine  into  tlie 
proofs  of  the  miraclfes  there  published,  shows  that  he  is  little 
acquainted  with  the  subject  he  talks  of.  In  the  first  place,  then, 
a  juridical  examination  of  each  reported  miracle  must  be  madt- 
ni  the  place  where  it  is  said  to  have  happened,  and  the  deposi- 
tions of  the  several  witnesses  must  be  given  upon  oath  ;  this  ex- 
amination is  generally  repeated  two  or  three  dillerent  times  ai 
intervals.  In  the  next  place,  the  examiners  at  Rome  are  un- 
questionably men  of  character,  talents  and  learning,  who,  never- 
theless, are  not  permitted  to  pronounce  upon  any  cure  or  other 
eflect  in  nature,  till  they  have  received  a  regular  report  oi  pli)'- 
sicians  and  naturalists  upon  it.  So  far  from  being  precipitate, 
it  employs  them  whole  years  to  come  to  a  decision,  on  a  lew 
jcases,  respecting  each  saint;  this  is  printed  and  handed  about 
among  indifterent  persons,  previously  to  its  being  laid  before 
the  Pope.  In  short,  so  strict  is  the  examination,  that,  according 
to  an  Italian  proverb :  It  is  next  to  n  miracle  to  get  a  mirach 
proved  at  Rome.  It  is  reported  by  F.  Daubenton  that  an  En- 
glish Protestant  gentleman,  meeting,  in  that  city,  >vith  a  printed 
process  of  forty  miracles,  which  had  been  laid  before  the  Con- 
gregation of  Rites,  to  which  the  examination  of  them  belonged, 
was  so  well  satisfied  with  the  respective  proofs  of  them,  as  to 
express  a  wish  that  Rome  would  never  allow  of  any  miracles, 
but  such  as  were  as  strongly  proved,  as  these  appeared  to  be ; 
when  to  his  great  surprise,  lie  was  informed  that  every  one  of 
these  had  been  rejected  by  Rome  as  not  sufliciently  proved ! 

Nor  can  I  admit  of  tlie  third  objection  of  your  friend,  by 
which  he  rejects  our  miracles,  on  the  alleged  ground,  that  there 
wa.s  no  sufllclent  cause  for  the  performance  of  them  ;  for  not  to 
mention  that  many  of  them  were  performed  for  the  conversion 
of  infidels,  I  am  bound  to  cry  out  with  the  apostle:  M^ho  hath 
known  the  mind  of  the  Lord:,  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor! 
Rom.  xi.  34.  Thus  nuich  is  certain  from  Scripture,  that  the 
same  Deity  who  preserved  Jonas  in  the  whale's  belly,  to  preach 


repentance 
(rem  the  I 
rrom  heav 
swim,  in  o 
»vhich  he  1 
not  to  rej 
they  are  n 
are  assure 
lice,  as  he 
Having 
brated  Pn 
cles,  ender 
to  call  Po 
my  own,  t 
answers  w 
head,  1  ca 
writers  of 
have  publ 
ully,  but 
panic  fear 
shop  of  Sc 
del  Gibboi 
racles  asci 
posterior 
may  seem 
so  many  ii 
his  own,  V 
his  compa 
cal  histor^ 
ing  that  h 
this  objec 
safely  cha 
any  writii 
oles  is  clai 
(namely, 
with  a  n( 
power,  bii 
hie  presui 
fident  ass( 

•  The  Ci 

arc  ilistinp;ii 

Douj:las,  1), 

t  Hist,  ol 

\  Critori 


Letter  XXir. 


147 


evangelists, 
*  Mostcer- 
of  the  dis- 
>  distiijguisli 
•ue ;  and  we 

I  caution,  in 
;o  the  gene- 

es  the  dili- 
trelates,  and 
ne  into  the 
:  he  is  little 
place,  then, 
ust  be  made 
the  doposi- 
ith  ;  this  e.\- 
mt  times  ai 
)nie  are  iin- 
who,  never- 
ure  or  other 
)ort  oi  pliy- 
precipitatc, 
n,  on  a  lew 
nided  about 
laid  before 
t,  according 
et  a  mirnck 
hat  an  Eii- 
ih  a  printed 
re  the  Con- 

II  belonged, 
them,  as  to 

ly  miracles, 

ared  to  be ; 

very  one  of 
proved ! 

friend,  bv 
d,  that  there 
;  for  not  to 

conversion 
:  Who  hath 
counsellor ! 
c,  that  tlie 
/,  to  preacii 


repentance  to  the  Ninivites,  created  a  gourd  to  shelter  his  h^itd 
(rom  the  heat  of  the  sun,  Jonas  iv.  6,  and  that  as  he  sent  fire 
(rom  heaven  to  save  his  prophet  Elias,  so  he  caused  iron  to 
swim,  in  order  to  enable  the  son  of  a  prophet  to  restore  the  axe 
«rhich  he  had  borrowed,  2  Kings  vi.  6.  In  like  manner,  we  are 
not  to  reject  miracles,  sufficiently  proved,  under  pretext  that 
they  are  mean,  and  unworthy  the  hand  of  Omnipotence ;  for  we 
arc  assured,  that  God  equally  turned  the  dust  of  Egypt  into 
lice,  as  he  turned  the  waters  of  it  into  blood,  Exod.  viii. 

Having  lately  perused  the  works  of  several  of  the  most  cele- 
brated Protestant  writers,  who,  in  defending  the  Scripture  mira** 
cies,  endeavour  to  invalidate  the  credit  of  those  they  are  pleased 
to  call  Popish  miracles,  1  think  it  just,  both  to  your  cause  and 
my  own,  to  state  the  chief  arguments  they  make  use  of,  and  the 
answers  which  occur  to  me,  in  refutation  of  them.  On  this 
head,  1  cannot  help  expressing  my  surprise  and  concern  that 
writers  of  character,  and  some  of  them  of  high  dignity,  should 
jiave  published  several  gross  falsehoods  ;  not,  I  trust,  intention- 
ally, but  from  the  blind  precipitancy  and  infatuation  which  a 
panic  fear  of  Popery  generally  produces.  The  late  learned  bi- 
shop of  Salisbury,  Dr.  J.  Douglas,  has  borrowed  from  the  infi- 
del Gibbon  what  he  calls  "  A  most  satisfying  proof  that  the  mi- 
racles ascribed  to  the  Romish  saints  are  forgeries  of  an  age 
posterior  to  that  they  lay  claim  to."*  The  latter  says :  "  It 
may  seem  remarkable,  that  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  who  records 
so  many  miracles  of  his  friend  St.  Malachy,  never  takes  notice  of 
his  own,  which  in  their  turn,  however,  are  carefully  related  by 
his  companions  and  disciples.  In  the  long  series  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal history,  does  there  occur  a  single  instance  of  a  saint  assert- 
ing that  he  himself  possessed  the  gift  of  miracles  ?"f  Adopting 
this  objection,  the  bishop  of  Salisbury  says  :  "  I  think  I  ni  y 
safely  challenge  the  admirers  of  the  Romish  saints  to  produce 
any  writing  of  any  of  them,  in  which  a  power  of  working  mira- 
cles is  claimed."!  Elsewhere  he  says  :  "  From  Xavier  himself 
(namely,  from  his  published  letters)  we  are  furnished,  not  onl^ 
with  a  negative  evidence  against  his  having  any  miraculous 
power,  but  also  with  a  positive  fact,  which  is  the  strongest  possi- 
ble presumption  against  it."§  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  con- 
fident assertions  of  these  celebrated  authors,  it  is  certain  (though 

•  Tlie  Criterion,  or  Rules  by  which  the  true  Miracles  of  tlie  New  Testament 
arc  i1istinp;iiishcd  from  the  spurious  Miracles  of  Pagans  anj  Pajiiits,  by  John 
Doup:las,  1).  D.  lord  bisliopof  Salishnry,  p.  71,  note, 
t  Hist,  of  Dc'iliue  and  Fall,  chap.  XV.  ' 

t  Criterion,  p.  1569.  *  Ibid.  p.  76. 


1  .9 


I  i 


M 


'^46 


Letter  XXir. 


,»f? 


the  last  thing  which  true  saints  choose  to  speak  of  are  their  own 
8up«>rnaturai  favours)  that  several  of  them,  when  the  occasion 
required  it,  have  spoken  of  the  miracles,  of  which  they  were  the 
instruments  j*  and  among  the  rest,  those  two  identical  saints, 
St.  Bernard  and  St.  Francis  Xavier,  whom  Gibbon  and  Dr. 
Douglas  instance,  to  prove  their  assertion.  I  have  already  re- 
ferred to  the  passages  in  the  works  of  St.  Bernard,  where  he 
speaks  of  his  miracles  as  oi  notorious  facts ;  and  I  here  again 
insert  them  in  a  note.f  With  respect  to  St.  Xavier,  he  not  only 
jnentions,  in  those  very  letters  which  Dr.  Douglas  appeals  to,  a 
miraculous  cure,  which  he  wrought  upon  a  dying  woman  in  the 
kingdom  of  Travancor ;  but  he  expressly  calls  it  A  Miracle, 
and  afL'rms  that  it  caused  the  conversion  of  the  whole  village  in 
which  she  resided.;}; 

pj.iA  second  palpable  falsehood  is  thus  confidently  advanced  by 
the  capital  enemy  of  miracles,  Dr.  Middletoii  j  "  I  might  risk 
the  merit  of  my  argliment  upon  this  single  point,  that,  after  the 
apostolic  times,  there  is  not,  in  aJl  history,  one  instance,  either 
well  attested,  or  even  so  much  as  7nentioned,  of  any  particular 
person  who  had  ever  exercised  that  gift  {of  tongues)  or  pre- 
tended to  exercise  it,  in  any  age  or  country  whatsoever."'^  In 
case  your  learned  friend  is  disposed  to  take  up  the  cause  of 
Middleton,  I  beg  to  refer  liim  to  the  history  of  St.  Pacomius, 
the  Egyptian  abbot,  and  founder  of  the  Cenobites,  who, 
"  though  he  never  learned  the  Greek  or  Latin  languages,  yet 
sometimes  miraculously  spoke  them,"  as  his  disciple  and  bio- 
grapher reports, Ij  and  to  that  of  the  renowned  preacher,  St. 
Vincent  Ferrer,  who,  having  the  gift  of  tongues,  preached  indif- 
ferently to  Jews,  Moors,  and  Christians,  in  their  respective  lan- 
guages, and  converted  incredible  numbers  of  each  of  thtese  des- 


♦  The  great  St,  Martin  acknowledged  his  o^vn  miracles,  since,  accor;!ing:  to 
Jiis  friend  and  biographer,  Sulpicius,  Dialogue  2,  he  used  to  say,  that  he  was  not 
endowed  with  so  great  a  power  o(  working  them,  after  he  was  a  bishop,  as  he 
had  been  before. 

t  Addressing  himself  to  P.  Eugeniiis  HI.  in  answer  to  his  enemies,  who  re- 
proached him  withthe  ill  success  of  the  second  crusade,  he  sayj,  "Sed  dicunt  for- 
sitari  isti :  Unde  scitnus  quod  a  Domino  strmo  egressussil  ?  (^u(e  figna  lu/acisvi 
credamus  libi  ?  non  est  quod  ad  ista  ipse  respondeam  :  parcendum  verecumiim 
mete :  responde  tu  pro  me  et  pro  te  ipso,  secundum  ea  quseridisli  et  audisti." 
De  Consid.  1.  ii.  c.  1.  In  like  manner,  writing  to  the  people  of  Thowlouse,  of  his 
miracles  wrought  there,  he  says  :  "  Mora  quidcm  brevis  aprid  vos  sed  non  iu- 
fructuosa:  veritate  nimirum  per  nos  manifestata,  non  sotum  in  senoooe  sedeti- 
am  in  virlute.''^    Kp.  S4 1 . 

^  Epist.  S.  F.  Xav.  L.  1.  Ep.  iv. 

♦  Inquiry  into  Mirac.  Powers,  p.  120,  ke,  ':>.•■ 
I  Tillcmont,  Mem.  Ecc.  torn.  vii. 


criptions."* 

Lewis  Bei 

of  tongues 

I  sand  India 

three  yeai 

great  apo 

ordinarily 

iiounced  1 

was  empo 

the  case  i 

he  enable 

all  of  wh< 

again  at 

merchants 

hy  Urban 

justrated 

of  Middle 

Protestan 

either  we 

who  had  i 

ercise  it. 

Nor  is 

Paley,  && 

they  insu 

truth,  anc 

of  this,  I 

glistin,  ai 

above.     ' 

minic,  w\ 

a  book  C( 

<onsuraec 

was  addr 

In  like  n 

words  to 

to  open  t 

fore,  wlie 

life  for  til 


•  See  hh 
t  See  AV 
t  See  Boi 
»  Criteri 
)|  Petrus 


Letter  XXIV. 


149} 


re  their  own 
he  occasion 
ley  were  the 
itical  saints, 
on  and  Dr. 
already  re- 

d,  where  he 
[  here  again 

he  not  only 
ippeals  to,  a 
oinan  in  tiief 
\  Miracle, 
•le  village  in 

idvanced  by 
[  niig-ht  rlsli 
lat,  after  the 
tanee,  either 
y  particular 
les)  or  pre- 
>ever."§  In 
the  cause  of 
t.  Pacomius, 
)bites,  who, 
ignac^es,  yet 
»Ie  and  bjo- 
rreaclier,  St. 
cached  indif- 
spective  lan- 

[)f  Ihfese  des- 

■>'  ■  n  ■ 

..■! 

e,  accfinlinj:  to 
Lhut  he  WHS  not 
a  bishop,  as  he 

emies,  tvbore- 
SecJ  tlicunt  for- 
igna  lu/acisvi 
im  verecundifls 
!li  et  audisti." 
loulouse,  ofhis 
vos  sed  non  in- 
tnoime  sed  eti* 


criptions.*     In  like  manner,  the  bull  of  the  canonization  of  St.  » 
Lewis  Bertrand,  A.  D.  1671,  declares  that  he  possessed  the  gift  ? 
of  tongues,  by  means  of  which  he  converted  as  many  as  ten  thou- 
sand Indians  of  diflerent  tribes  in  South  America,  in  the  space  of 
three  years.f     Lastly,  let  your  friend  peruse  the  history  of  the  . 
great  apostle  of  the  East  Indies,  St.  Xavier,  who,  though  he 
ordinarily  studied  the  languages  of  the  several  nations  he  an-  ■ 
jionnced  the  word  of  God  to,  yet,  on  particular  occasions,  lie ) 
was  empowered  to  speak  those  he  had  not  learned.  J     This  wa.** 
the  case  in  Travancor,  as  his  companion  Vaz  testified,  so  as  to 
be  enabled  to  convert  and  instruct  there  ten  thousand  infidels, 
all  of  whom  he  baptized  with  his  own  hand.    This  was  the  case 
ac:ain  at  Amangiichi,  where  he  met  with  a  number  of  Chinese 
merchants.     Finally,  the  bull  of  St.  Xavierius's  canonization 
hy  Urban  VIll.  proclairaj  to  the  world,  that  this  saint  was  il- 
lustrated with  the  gift  of  tongues:  so  false  is  the  bold  assertion 
of  Middleton,  adopted  in  part  by  bishop  Douglas  and  other 
Protestants,  that  "  there  la  not,  ia  all  1»*  tory,  one  instance, 
either  well  attested,  or  so  much  as  ment.  led,  of  any  person 
who  had  ever  exercised  the  gift  of  tong:et,  or  pretended  to  ex- 
ercise it." 

Nor  is  there  more  truth  in  wh  it  th^  bishop  of  Salisbury,  Dr. 
Paley,  &;c.  maintain,  namely,  that  "  the  Popish  miracles,"  as 
they  insultingly  call  them,  were  not  wrouglit  to  confirm  any 
truth,  and  that  no  converts  were  made  by  them  !^  In  refutation 
of  this,  I  may  again  refer  to  the  epitaph  of  our  apostle,  St,  Au- 
glistin,  and  to  the  miracles  of  St.  Bernard  at  Sarlat,  mentioned 
above.  To  these  instances,  I  may  add  the  prodigy  of  St.  Do- 
minic, who,  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Catholic  doctrine,  threw 
a  book  containing  It  into  the  flames,  in  which  it  remained  un- 
<onsumed,  at  the  same  time  challenging  the  heretics,  whom  he 
was  addressing,  to  :  -nl^e  the  same  experiment  on  their  creed. H 
i„  i:i c*   V  yj^y^  Qj^  ^  certain  occasion,  finding  his 


In  Ilk 


e  manner. 


St. 


words  to  have  no  efiect  on  his  Indian  auditory,  requested  them 
to  open  the  grave  of  a  corpse  that  had  been  buried  the  day  be- 
fore, when  falling  on  his  knees,  he  besought  God  to  restore  it  to 
life  for  the  conversion  of  the  infidels  present ;  upon  which,  the 


*  See  his  Life  by  Lnnzano,  Bishop  of  Lucoa,  also  Spondanus  ad  An.  1403. 

t  See  Alban  Butler's  Saints'  Lives,  Oct.  9. 

I  See  Bouhour's  Life  of  St.  Xavier,  translated  by  Dryden,  &c. 

«  Criterion,  p.  369.     View  of  Evidences,  by  Dr.  Paley,  vol.  i.  p.  346, 

j[  Petrus  Vallis  Cern.  Hist.     Alb.  Butler's  Saint's  Lives,  Au».  4. 


1 


150 


Letter  XXIV. 


■»   -'I   !,     W. 


dead  man  was  instantly  restored  to  life  and  perfect  health,  and 
the  country  round  about  received  the  faith.* 

It  is  chiefly  through  the  sides  of  the  apostle  of  India,  that  the 
author  cf  The  Criterion  endeavours  to  wound  the  credit  of  the 
other  saints  and  the  Catholic  church,  on  the  point  of  miracles. 
Hence  in  the  application  of  his  three  laboured  rules  of  criticism, 
he  objects,  that  the  alleged  miracles  of  St.  Xavier  were  per- 
formed in  the  extremities  of  the  East ;  that  the  accounts  of  theni 
were  published,  not  on  the  spot,  but  in  Europe,  at  an  immense 
distance;  and  this  not  till  thirty-five  years  after  the  saint's 
death. f     A  single  document,  of  tiie  most  public  nature,  at  once 
overturns  all  the  three  rules  in  regard  of  this  saint.    He  died  at 
the  end  of  1552,  and  on  the  28th  of  March,  1556,  a  letter  was 
sent  from  Lisbon  by  John  III.  king  of  Portugal,  to  his  viceroy 
in  India,  Don  Francisco  Barretto,  "  enjoining  him  to  take  de- 
positions upon  oath,  in  all  parts  of  the  Indies,  where  there  is  a 
probability  of  finding  witnesses,  not  only  concerning  the  life  and 
manners  of  Francis  Xavier,  and  of  all  the  things  commendably 
done  by  him,  for  the  salvation  and  example  of  men,  but  also 
concerning  the  miracles,  which  he  has  wrought,  both  living  and 
dead.     You  shall  send  these  authentic  instruments,  with  all  the 
evidences  and  proofs,  signed  with  your  handwriting,  and  sealed 
with  your  ring,  by  three  diflerent  conveyances'."J 

But  the  author  of  The  Criterion,  it  seems,  has  more  positive, 
and  what  he  calls  "  conclusive  evidence,  that  during  this  time, 
(thirty-five  years  from  his  death,)  Xavier's  miracles  had  not  been 
heard  of.  The  eviden-e,"  he  soya,  "  I  shall  allege,  is  that  ol* 
Acosta,  (namely,  Joseph  Acosta,)  who  himself  had  been  a  mis- 
sionary among  the  Indians.  His  work,  De  Procuranda  Indo- 
rum  Salute,  was  printed  in  1589,  that  is,  above  thirty-seven 
years  after  the  death  of  Xavier,  and  in  it  we  find  an  express  ac- 
knowledgment, that  no  miracles  had  ever  been  performed  by 
missionaries  among  the  Indians.  Acosta  was  himself  a  Jesuit, 
and  therefore,  from  his  silence,  we  may  infer  uiiexceptionably, 
that  between  thirty  and  forty  years  had  elapsed  before  Xavier's 


•  Thii  was  ono  of  the  miracles  rcfprrptl  to  by  the  Paravas  of  Cape  Comonn, 
•whrri  the  Dutch  sent  a  minister  from  Batavia,  to  pro!«plyto  them  to  rrotesfanl- 
ism.  On  this  orraiion,  lh«iy  answereil  the  minister's  ilisroiirse  thus :  'Hit  ^real 
^itther  (St.  Xavier)  raited  to  lift  Jive  onix  dmd  prrsoni ;  do  you  rni»r.  Iwice  at 
manii ;  doi/nii  cure  all  nnr  tirle.  and  makt.  the  .-rn  twice  as  jtroduclin'  ofjish  as  it 
vow  it,  and  thru  we  wilt  litlrn  to  you.  I)u  1  Initio's  Kecueil,  vol.  v.  I{emult 
Uerrastfll'g  Hist.  V.vc.  torn,  xxiii.  p.'4'il.  t  ('ritor.  p.  78,  Gl,  &r. 

I  This  letter  i«  extant  in  Tursellinns,  hut  had  hern  puhlisheil  several  yoaM 
before  l>v  Kmaiiucl  Acosta,  in  his  lieruininOricnte  (Ictlarum.  Dilingon,  1571. 
Puris,  I57i. 


miracles 
so  concli 
Peter  Re 
adopted ' 
much  to 
of  the  tw 
will  the 
Acosta  b 
(ility  o(y 
was  ainoi 
this  sanv 
quotes,  e: 
I;)  be  reli 
the  East 
ther,  will 
<;alls  him 
:iii(l  such 
ruid  cred 
in  inagni 
all  this  T 
<)ishop  E 
learned 
Ibund  in 
1  insert 
titled  to 
the  mira( 
nf  the  n 
'Prcnt,  1) 
rarlos,  y\ 
))roper 
liou  of 
iiig  of  tl 


b 


I 


•  Cri'- 

Jt)is>Hf 
"  Alte 
^n)s(.it  »post 
^ipfraniiit.' 
1  •'  i:t  (ju 
tint, /ic.tffn 
^sBct,  tarn 
8,p,  141. 

*•  Com 
vinim  Apo 
tnsipie  iJo 
.M!»S:ister  ( 
i'  The 
quaint  des 


hetier  XXJV. 


151 


lealth,  and 

ia,  that  the 
edit  of  the 
f  miracles, 
f  criticism, 

were  per- 
its  of  them 
n  immense 
the  saint's 
re,  at  once 
He  died  at 

letter  was 
lis  viceroy 
o  take  de- 
there  is  a 
he  life  and 
imendably 
but  also 
living  and 
ith  all  the 
and  sealed 

e  positive, 
this  time, 
d  uut  been 
is  that  of 
een  a  mis- 
ida  Indo' 
irty-seven 
xpress  ac- 
brmed  by 
f  a  Jesuit, 
ptionably, 
;  Xavier's 


pfi  Comorin, 
I  Protpstunl- 
:  'Jfir.  grtai 
i»r.  IfHt'e  as 
•  ofjUh  at  il 
V.  liomult 
B,  CI,&c. 
n'pral  ycriM 
ingon,  1571. 


miracles  were  thought  of."*     The  argument  has  been  thou  girt 
so  conclusive,  that  Mr.  Le  Mesurier,f  Hugh  Farmer,^  the  Rev. 
Peter  Roberts,'^  and  other  Protestant  writers  on  miracles,  have 
adopted  it  with  exultation,  and  it  has  probably  contributed  as 
much  to  the  author's  title  of  Detector  Douglas^  as  his  exposure 
of  the  two  impostors,  Lauder  and  Archibald  Bower.    But  what 
will  the  admirers  of  this  Defector  say,  if  it  should  appear  that 
Acosta  barely  says,  that  "  there  was  not  (he  same  faculty  or  fa- 
cility of  working  miracles  among  the  missionaries,  which  there 
was  among  the  apostles  ?"]]     Or  rather  what  will  they  say,  it 
this  same  Acosta,   in   the  very  work  '/hich  Do<;tor  Douglas; 
(juotes,  expressly  asserts,  that  signs  and  mi7'ttchs  too  numerous 
t;)  be  related,  accompanied  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  both  in 
the  East  and  the  Wci^t  Indies,  in  kis  own  timcJ^  ■  And  yet  fur- 
ther, with  respect  to  this  same  "  Bksscd  Master  Francis,"  as  he 
<;alls  liim,  "  being  a  man  of  an  apostolical  life,  that  so  many 
Tiiid  such  great  signs  have  been  reported  of  him  by  numerous 
and  credible  witnesses,  that  hardly  more  in  number  or  greater 
in  mngnitu(iti  are  road  of  an}"  one,  except  the  apostles  ?"**  Now 
all  this  1  affirm  Acosta  does  say,  in  the  very  work  quoted  by 
f)ishop  Douglas,  a  '"^py  of  which  !  beg  leave  to  inform  your 
Irarned  frirnd,  (and  through  him,  other  learned  men,)  is  to  be 
fmmd  in  tire  Bodleian  library  at  Oxford,  under  the  title  which 
I  insert  below.f  f     llie  author  of  The  Criterion  is  hardly  en- 
titled to  more  merrv  for  his  cavils  on  what  Ribadeneira  savs  of 
the  miracles  of  St.  Ignatius,  than  for  those  on  what  Acosta  says 
of  the  mirach's  of  St.  Xavi«'r.     The  fact  is,  the  Couticil   of 
'rront,  having  recently  prohibited  the  publication  of  any  new  mi- 
larlos,  \nitil  they  had  been  examined  and  approved  of  by  the 
))rnper  ecclesiastical  authority,  Hibadeneim,  in    the   first  edi- 
tion of  his  life  of  St.  Ignatius,  observed  due  caution  in  speak- 
ing of  this  saint's  miracles ;  however,  in  tlmt  very  edition,  he 

•  Cri*»i-ion,  p.  7:1.  t  namiiton  Leoture",  p.2ni]. 

\  t)i<>>«rlutMtn  (HI  Miracles,  p.  20;j.         ♦  Olwervatioiis'  on  a  Pumphlet. 

II  "  Altcrn  raiisn  in  nobis  est  c<ir  ajwstolira  prudiiatio  inslitiii  tTtnnino  no* 
^w>si.it  «|)os(olici>,  qifod  niiranilonim  un\hif«cul(u3  sit,  quaajTOsloli  pluriiua  prr- 
pplranint."— Afosta,  DnProc.  1,  ii.  r.W. 

1  *'  r,l  <iuii1<"m  dona  Spirihis  ar^'/m  et  tnirnrttJa,  qnac  fitlei  praedicationo  innntuer- 
vnt, hill  ffiam ii"mp(irii)ns,(^ai\tH\o  clwritas  usque  adeo  refrixit,  entinmcrarplonjjuin 
*s86t,  turn  in  Orientuli  i)laln«lia,  turn  in  hac  Occidentali." — Do  Procur.  1.  i.  c, 
S,  p,Mt. 

*•  Convprtanms  orulos  in  no»tri  sacciili  hoinincm,  B.  Magistnim  Frnnnisriim, 
vinim  ApoaloliciB  vitae,  cujus  tot  e\  tarn  magna  8ip;na  referuntiir  per  plurimos, 
losipie  ijoneos,  testes  ut  vix  tie  alio  pxneptis  Apostoli!",  plum  Icg^ntur.  Quid 
M;4<:ist*>r  Gaspar  -..iique  soc.ii,  tc." — De  IVonir.  Ind.  Saint.  1.  ii.  r.  10,  p.  226. 

t'  Tlio  bo  lit  is  to  b«<  inquired  for  af  thn  Hodlrian  library  by  Ibp  rollowin* 
cuaint  desnriplioti ;  Jithumia  Papism  Ml  Orbi  mninfvslata,  U"*  <•  '2^,  jtrt.Hdii 

Hi* 


153 


Letter  XXIF. 


f^m 


<leclared  that  many  such  had  been  wrouglit  by  him :  but  tliese 
having  subsequently  been  juridically  proved  in  the  process  of 
the  saint's  canonization,  his  biographer  published  them  without 
scruple,  as  he  candidly  and  satisfactorily  informs  his  readers  in 
that  third  edition  ;  which  edition  now  stands  in  his  folio  work  of 
The  Saints^  Lives.* 

I  shall  close  this  very  long  letter,  with  a  very  few  words  res- 
pecting a  work  which  has  lately  appeared,  animadverting  on 
ray  account  of  The  Miraculous  Cure  of  fVinefrid  White.-\  The 
writer  sets  out  with  the  system  of  Dr.  Middleton,  by  admitting 
none  except  Scripture  miracles ;  but  very  soon  he  undermines 
these  miracles  also,  where  he  says  :  "  An  independent  and  ex- 
press divine  testimony  is  that  alone,  which  can  assure  us  whe- 
ther effects  are  miraculous  or  not,  except  in  a  few  cases."  He 
thus  reverses  the  proofs  of  Christianity,  as  its  advocates  and  its 
divine  Founder  himself  have  laid  them  down.  He  adds  :  "No 
mortal  ought  to  have  the  presumption  to  say,  a  thing  is  or  is 
not  contrary  to  the  established  laws  of  nature."  Again  he  says: 
"  To  prove  a  mit'acle,  diere  must  be  a  proof  of  the  particular 
divine  agency."  According  to  this  system  we  may  say,  No 
one  knows  but  the  motion  of  the  funeral  procession,  or  soinc 
occult  quality  of  nature,  raised  to  life  the  widow  of  Naim's  son ! 
Mr.  Roberts  will  have  no  difiiculty  in  saying  so,  as  he  denios 
that  the  resurrection  of  the  murdered  man  from  the  touch  of  the 
prophet  Elisha's  bones,  2  Kings  xiii,  was  a  miracle  !  Possessed 
of  this  opinion,  the  author  can  readily  persuade  iiimsclf,  that  u 
curvatcd  sp'^v^  and  hemiplegia,  or  any  other  disease  whatever, 
may  be  cured,  in  an  instant,  by  immersion  in  cold  water,  or  bv 
any  thing  else;  but  as  it  is  not  likely  that  any  one  else  will 
adopt  it,  I  will  say  no  more  of  his  physical  arguments  on  this 

*  ••  Mihi  tantum  abest  \\i  ml  vitam  Isfnatii  illiiMrrtinltim  niirnnila  ileesse  vi- 
dsantur,  ut  miiltH  caqiie  pnestantisitiiiiH  judioein  in  iikmIIh  hup  v«>rs<:4ri.''     TIk^ 

writer  prorceiU  to  mention  several  ciiroi".  &c.  edit.  ifui. 1  camiot  floyp  tlii< 

nrtirle  withont  proteilingajain?t  the  disinfjeuuity  of  sevord  l'rot(>!<latd  wriln* 
in  reproaching  Catholics  with  the  im|)Oi>ition9  practised  by  llie  Jan^eniMn  ;d  ilm 
tomb  of  Abbi-  I'liri^  In  fact,  who  dotected  those  impoKitions,  and  fnniii'hril  Dr. 
Campbel,  Dr.  Don^las,  &c.  with  ar<!f(iment8  afjain^t  Ihein,  except  our  Oathnlic 
)»pelate«  and  theologian*  ?  In  liice  niannor  Calholirs  have  rl'a^'on  to  con>|'l:(iri 
ofUtcte  and  other  Protestant  writers,  for  the  manner  in  which  thoy  dis^o^s  Ilm 
rtupcndon*  miracle  that  look  place  at  Sam»o<isa  in  W)  JO,  on  one  IMichael  I'ellir  pr, 
who«n  leg,  haTin»  l)uen  amputated,  hf,  by  his  prayers,  obtained  a  new,  natnni 
lef[[,  just  as  if  this  miraclo  rotted  on  no  bettor  fnundation  than  the  !>li°^ht  mrntioii 
which  cardinal  Iletz  ninkei  of  it  in  his  Memni  $.  In  fact,  we  mi.-jfit  Iiavo  cx\hh\ 
ed  that  learned  divines  would  have  known  that  tliis  miracle  had  been  ampl) 
discussed,  »oon  after  it  happenml,  between  Dr.  Stillin»fleet  and  the  Jesuit  Fil- 
ward  Worsley,  in  which  discussion,  the  latter  jn-odticed  such  attestations  of  thti 
fact  OS  It  seems  ininofHible  not  to  credit.— See  Rnnson  and  Religion,  p.  3OT. 

t  By  th*  Rev.  Peter  Roberts,  rector  of  Llanarnion,  ko. 


Letter  XXV, 


153 


subject.  He  next  proceeds  to  charge  W.  White  and  her  friends 
with  a  studied  imposition;  in  support  of  which  charge,  he  as- 
serts, that  "  the  church  of  Rome  had  not  announced  a  miracle 
for  many  years."  This  only  proves  that  his  ignorance  of  what 
is  continually  going  on  in  the  church,  is  equal  to  his  bigotry 
against  it.  The  same  ignorance  and  bigotry  are  manifested  in 
the  ridiculous  story  concerning  Sixtus  V.  which  he  copies  from 
the  unprincipled  Leti,  as  also  in  his  account  of  the  exploded  and 
condemned  book,  the  T^axa  Cancellaria,  &c.*  Towards  tlwj 
conclusion  of  his  work,  he  expresses  a  doubt  whether  I  have 
read  bishop  Douglas's  Criterion,  though  I  have  so  frequently 
quoted  it;  because,  he  says,  if  I  had  read  it,  I  must  have  knovrn 
that  Acosta  proves  that  St.  Xavier  wrought  no  miracles  among 
the  Indians,  and  that  the  same  thing  appears  from  the  saint's 
own  letters.  Now  the  only  thing,  dear  sir,  which  these  asser- 
tions prove,  is,  that  Mr.  Roberts  himself,  no  more  than  bishop 
Douglas,  ever  read  either  Acosta's  work,  or  St.  Xavier's  Let- 
ters, notwithstanding  they  so  frequently  refer  to  them  ;  for  this 
is  the  only  way  of  acquitting  them  of  a  far  heavier  charge. 

i  I  am,  &^c. 

■/         .  J.M 


ji- 


water,  or  bv 


LETTER  XXV. 
To  JAMES  BPOWN,  Esq.  ^c. 

OA*  THR  TRUE  CHURCH  BEING  CATTIOUC. 

Dear  Sir, 
Tk  treating  of  this  third  mark  of  the  true  chnrch.  nj»  expr{?sserl 
in  our  common  creed,  I  feel  my  spirits  sink  within  me,  and  I 
ntn  almost  tempted  to  throw  away  my  pen,  in  denpair.  For 
what  chanoe  is  there  of  opening  the  eyes  of  candid  Protestants* 
to  the  other  marks  of  the  church,  if  they  are  capnble  of  keeping; 
them  shut  to  this?  Every  time  that  each  of  theiii  addresses  the 
God  of  Truth,  either  in  solemn  worship  or  in  private  devotion, 
he  fails  not  to  repeat,  T bdkve  in  THE  CATHOLIC  church: 
and  vet  if  I  ask  him  tho  question.  Are  you  a  CATHOLICS 
he  i/sure  to  answer  me,  JVo,  lam  a  FliOTESTANT I   Wa* 


•  Emeb.  Ecclcs.  Hist.  1.  iv.  c.  16. 

u 


154 


tdtet  XXV, 


mmts 


it  l^.i^- 


there  ever  a  nfiore  prlanng  ittstance  of  inconsistency  arid  self-coh 
demiiation  among  rational  beings ! 

At  the  first  promulgation  of  the  Gospel,  its  followers  were 
distinguished  from  the  Jews  by  the  name  of  Christians^  as  we 
learn  from  Scripture,  Acts  xi.  26.  Hence  thp  title  of  Catholic 
did  not  occur  in  the  primitive  edition  of  tlie  apostles'  Creed  ;* 
but  no  sooner  did  heresies  and  schisms  arise,  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  church,  than  there  was  found  to  be  a  necessity  of 
discriminating  the  main  slock  of  her  faithful  children,  to  whom 
the  promises  of  Christ  belonged,  from  those  self-will  choosers  of 
their  articles  of  belief,  as  the  word  heretic  signifies,  and  those 
disobedient  separatists,  as  the  word  schismatic  means.  For  this 
purpose  the  title  of  CATHOLIC,  or  universal,  was  adopted, 
and  applied  to  tiie  true  church  and  her  children.  Accordingly 
we  find  it  used  by  the  immediate  disciples  of  the  apostles,  as  a 
distinguishing  mark  of  the  true  church.  One  of  these  was  the 
illustrious  martyr  St.  Ignatius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  who,  writing 
to  the  chuicli  of  Smyrna,  expressly  says,  that  "  Christ  is  where 
the  Catholic  church  is."  In  like  manner,  the  same  church  of 
Smyrna,  giving  a  relation  of  the  martyrdom  of  their  holy  bi- 
shop St.  Polycarp,  who  was  equally  a  disciple  of  the  apostles, 
addresses  it  to  "  The  Catholic  churches. "j-  This  characteristi- 
cal  title  of  the  true  church  continued  to  be  pointed  out  by  the 
succeeding  fathers  in  their  writings  and  the  acts  of  their  couii- 
rils.J  St.  Cyril,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  fourth  century, 
gives  the  following  directions  to  his  pupils  :  "  If  you  go  into 
any  city,  do  not  ask  merely.  Where  is  the  church,  or  house  of 
God?  because  the  heretics  pretend  to  have  this;  but  ask, 
JVhirh  is  the  Catholic  church^  because  this  title  l>r1o!if;s  aiouc 
to  our  holy  mother."^  "  We,"  says  a  fatiuT  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, "  are  called  Catholic  Christians."]]  His  contemporary, 
St.  Pacian,  describes  himself  as  follows :  "  Christian  is  my 
namp,  Catholic  is  ?ny  slrname :  by  the  former  I  am  called,  by 
the  latter  I  am  dlstintfuished.  By  the  name  of  Catholic,  our 
society  is  distinguished  from  all  hrreticsy^  But  there  is  not 
one  of  the  fathers  or  doctors  of  antirjuity,  who  enlarges  so  co- 
piously or  so  pointedly  on  tliis  title  of  the  tnie  church,  as  the 
great  St.  Augustin,  who  died  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century. 
*'  Many  things,"  he  says,  "  detain  me  in  tl?  bosom  of  the  Ca- 

•  Reft  fftnrPoUatpd  copies  of  it  in  Diipin'a  Bib.  Eccl.  torn.  i.  ''•'<'' 

t  EmsbV).  Krc.  Flist.  1.  iv.  r.  15. 

"^  SS.  Justin.  Clem.  Alex.  Appolin.  1.  Nicrcn.  can.  R.  1.  C.  P.  can.  7,  &0« 

i  Catpch.  II).  II  Siilviau  do  GuUern.  D«i.  1.  iv. 

%  ^  Pii'uau,  K[>.  i.  ail  Symjp. 


Itjiolicchi 
I  which  shi 
I  that  whei 

I  yet,  if  an 
Uhe  Cath 
plaee  ofi 
» We  mi 
called  C. 
her  enem 
or  not,  V 
strangers 
of  Catho 
J  did  not 
lier."t 
of  Catho 
e-^clesiasi 
countries 
of  Lerin 
bearing  ' 
St.  Justii 
same  rei 
cionite,  ^ 
the  nerv( 
ject:  "\ 
been  fon 
day.  If 
their  nar 
Marcion 
not  of  C 
I  now 
who  are 
jects,  wl 
lathers  a 
they  we 
U  there 
iind  disti 
CHUR( 
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it  ?  Do 
tcstabiy 


»  Contj 

I  Conir 
jl  Ad  vol 


IJ 


Letttr  XXV: 


155 


ibolic  church — the  very  name  of  CATHOLIC  detains  me  in  it, 
I  which  she  has  so  happily  preserved  amidst  the  different  heretics; 
I  that  whereas  they  are  all  desirous  of  being  called  Catholics f 
yet,  if  any  stranger  were  to  ask  them,  Which  is  the  assembly  of 
ike  Catholics  ?  none  of  them  would  dare  to  point  out  his  own 
place  of  worship."*  To  the  same  purpose,  he  says  elsewhere: 
"  We  must  hold  fast  the  communion  of  that  church  which  is 
called  Catholic,  not  only  by  her  own  children,  but  also  by  all 
her  enemies.  For  heretics  and  schismatics,  whether  they  will 
lor  not,  when  they  are  speaking  of  the  Catholic  church  with 
^trangers,  or  with  their  own  people,  call  her  by  the  name 
I  of  Catholic  ;  inasmuch  as  they  would  not  be  understood,  if  they 

d  not  call  her  by  the  name  by  which  all  the  world  calls 
I  lier."f  In  proportion  to  their  affection  for  the  glorious  name 
of  Catholic,  is  the  aversion  of  these  primitive  doctors,  to  every 
I  ecclesiastical  name  or  title  derived  from  particular  persons, 
countries,  or  opinions.  "  What  new  heresy,"  says  St.  Vincent 
of  Lerins,  in  the  sixth  century,  "  ever  sprouted  up,  without 
bearing  the  name  of  its  founder,  the  date  of  its  origin  ?"  fee.  J 
St.  Justin,  the  philosopher  and  martyr,  had  previously  made  the 
same  remark  in  the  second  century,  with  respect  to  the  Mar- 
cionite,  Valentinian,  and  other  heretics  of  his  time.*^  Finally, 
the  nervous  St.  Jerom  lays  down  the  following  rule  on  this  sub- 
Meet:  "We  must  live  and  die  in  that  church,  which,  having 
been  founded  by  the  apostles,  continues  down  to  the  present 
day.  If,  then,  you  should  hear  of  any  Christians  not  deriving 
their  name  from  Christ,  but  from  some  other  founder,  as  the 
Marcionites,  the  Valentinians,  hi.  be  persuaded  that  they  are 
not  of  Christ's  society,  but  of  Antichrist's. "j| 

I  now  appeal  to  you,  dear  sir,  and  to  the  respectable  friends 
who  are  accustomed  to  deliberate  with  you  on  religious  sub- 
jects, whether  these  observations  and  arguments  of  the  ancient 
lluhers  are  not  as  strikingly  true  in  this  nineteenth  century,  as 
they  were  during  the  six  first  centuries,  in  which  they  wrote  ? 
Is  there  not,  among  the  rival  churches,  one  exclusively  known 
.111(1  distinguished  by  the  name  and  title  of  THE  CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,  as  well  in  England,  Holland,  and  other  countries, 
which  protcat  against  this  church,  as  in  those  which  adhere  to 
it  ?  Does  not  this  effulgent  mark  of  the  true  religion  so  incon- 
tpstably  belong  to  us,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  obscure  it,  by 


•  Contra  Epist.  Fundam.  c.  I. 
X  Common.  Ailvnrs.  liter,  c.  34. 
il  Advors.  Luciforan. 


t  De  Vor.  Relig.  c.  7. 
{  Adrert.  TryphoD. 


166 


LeUer  XXFl 


**:i-p 


the  nick-names  of  Pdpisis,  Romanists,  he.*  that  the  rule  of  St. 
Cyril  and  St.  Augustin  is  as  good  and  certain  now,  as  it  was  m 
their  times  ?  What  I  mean  is  this  :  if  any  stranger  in  London, 
Edinburgh,  or  Amsterdam,  were  to  ask  his  way  to  the  Catholn 
chapel,  I  would  risk  my  life  for  it,  that  no  sober  Protestant  in- 
habitant would  direct  him  to  any  other  place  of  worship  tlmn 
to  ours.  On  i\ic  other  -la-id  a  is  notorious,  that  the  different 
sects  of  Prot"<:tavr,'5  like  she  i;e;  tics  and  schismatics  of  old,  are 
denominated  « ithei  from  thei*  .  'nders,  as  the  Lutherans,  the 
Cahiniats,  th;  Sotiit'Atnf.,  cic-  oj  from  the  countries  in  which 
fh(  y  pre! vail,  as  the  church  of  England,  the  Kirk  of  Scotland^ 
the  Moravicns,  <k,c.  or  from  some  novelty  in  their  belief  or  prac- 
tu  s,  as  the  Anabaptists,  the  Inlependents,  the  Quakers,  &tc. 
The  first  fndipi*  ot  Pro  l-^I;  i  is  w  is  so  sensible  that  he  and  they 
wer?  destitiife  *if  every  ciaim  to  the  title  of  Catholic,  that  in 
translating  i^ho  arjostli  "  Creed  into  Dutch,  he  substituted  the 
word  Christian  for  *hat  of  Catholic.  The  first  Lutherans  did 
the  same  thing  in  their  catechism,  for  which  they  are  reproach- 
ed by  the  famous  Fulke,  who,  to  his  own  confusion,  proves  that 
the  true  church  of  Christ  must  be  Catholic  in  name,  as  well  as 
in  substance. f  •"(■■■.i  ■    ,  /  .  ■  uc.!  / :    .sii,.ii-  '^r  u    ._'■  i-f, 

,<.''"'■  >ii  '    '■'  •■        •'  .  sp      I  am,  Sec. 

-''>"  -''-  -         ■■  '•■••  ■'  .'■•  ■'■    ■  _ J.  M. 


■:;i)).i;{!    .if 

J..'  Mit;     mI 

• 

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•  11     Ji- 
ll    '•,' 


l.| 


:il!^W;.'    )l 


■Mit    .i} 


LETTER  XXVI.     7    ,i, 
To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq.  ^c. 


■rrn 


)  I. 


.ii.     .  (..     Qjy.  rpfjp  qujLiTfES  OF  CATHOLICITY.  '    • 

iir.j  Ii,  ,., ,'. 

Dear  Sir, 

To  proceed  now,  from  the  na'ne  Catholic,  to  the  signification 

of  that  name:  this  is  to  be     •uijered  from  the  etymology  of  the 

word  itself,  and  from  the  sense  in  which  the  apostolical  fathers 

ajul  other  doctors  of  t'le  church  have  constantly  used  it.     It  is 

derived  from  the  Greek  word  KaJoXixog,  which  means  universe}; 

and,  accordingly,  it  has  evr  been  employed  by  those  writers  to 

discriminate  the  great  body  of  Christians,  under  their  legiti- 

•  St.  r.r<»»ory  of  Tours,  speakin^of  the  Arians,  ami  other  contemporary  here- 
tics of  the  6th  rpntury,  r,\yn:  '*  Uoinarioruin  noiuiue  vocitaiil  nustrse  religionii 
bomiiie!'.''*      Hist.  I.  xvii.  c.?.i. 

t  Oil  the  New  Tostameiil,  p  378. 


late  pas 
those  con 
ilaces  ai 
atholic 
lis  spread 
addressir 
lepreads 
leaning 
Idoctrine, 
|the  same 
Ithe  worl( 
jfiiith  whi 
from  the 
monies 
that  the 
respects, 
of  the  mc 
fused  ivh 
ever  sinci 
hear  me 
stand  m( 
theran,  n 
atn  not  o 
iior  of  th 
the  time 
limits  wi 
member 
Christ   I 
world,  a 
that  to 
ages  ha^ 
gions  ab 
cutions 
iigainst  ' 
assured, 
Catholii 
Butt 
fusivene 
it  is  pr 
quarters 


,i!-, 


•  Epis 

X  Com 

i  doctrine  i 


'■:/■'■. 


Letter  XXVL 


157 


the  rule  of  St. 
)w,  as  it  was  io 
rer  in  London, 
to  the  Catholti 
Protestant  in- 
'  worship  tl»an 
It  the  different 
tics  of  old,  are 
Lutherans,  the 
tries  ill  which 
'k  of  Scotland^ 
belief  or  prac- 
Quakers,  &c. 
at  he  and  they 
itholic,  that  in 
substituted  the 
Lutherans  did 
are  reproach- 
)n,  proves  that 
me,  as  well  as 


C. 


J-  M. 

'I 

M  ; .  •  ■  V  (      ; 
.t    .il  ./ 

..  ■  >  I, 

■     ■■'  4-;  i 


r. 


signification 
nology  of  the 
olical  fathers 
ised  it.  It  is 
ns  universal ; 
Dse  writers  t(t 
r  their  legiti- 


temporary  here- 
luRtrse  reli'ionis 


ate  pastors,  and  subsisting  in  ail  nations  and  all  ages,  from 
;hose  comparatively  small  bodies  of  Christians,  who,  in  certain 
laces  and  at  certain  times,  have  been  separated  from  it.  "  The 
atholic  church,"  says  St.  Augustin,  "  is  so  called,  because  i& 
spread  throughout  the  world."*    "  If  your  church,"  adds  he, 
addressing   certain   heretics,  ''  is  Catholic,  show  me   that   it 
spreads  its  branches  throughout  the  world  ;  for  such  is  the 
meaning  of  the  word  Catholic."f     *'  The  Catholic  or  universal 
doctrine,"  writes  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins,  "  is  that  which  remains 
the  same  through  all  ages,  and  will  continue  so  till  the  end  of 
the  world.     He  is  a  true  Catholic  who  firmly  adheres  to  the 
fiiith  which  he  knows  the  Catholic  church  has  universally  taught 
from  the  days  of  old."  J     It  follows,  from  these  and  other  testi- 
monies of  the  fathers,  and  from  the  meaning  of  the  term  itself, 
that  the  true  church  is  Catholic  or  Universal  in  three  several 
respects,  as  to  persons,  as  to  places,  and  as  to  time.     It  consists 
of  the  most  numerous  body  of  Christians  ;  it  is  more  or  less  dif- 
fused  wherever  Christianity  prevails :  and  it  has  visibly  existed 
eeer  since  the  time  of  the  apostles.     Hence,  dear  sir,  when  you 
hear  me  glorying  in  the  name  of  Catholic,  you  are  to  under- 
stand me  as  equivalently  proclaiming  thus  : — I  am  not  a  Lu- 
theran, nor  n  Calvinist,  nor  a  Whitfieldite,  nor  a  Wesleyan ;  I 
am  not  of  the  church  of  England,  nor  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland, 
nor  of  the  consistory  of  Geneva ;  I  can  tell  the  place  where  and 
the  time  when  each  of  these  sects  began  ;  and  I  can  describe  the 
limits  within  which  they  are  respectively  confined ;  but  1  am  a 
member  of  that  great  Catholic  church,  which  was  planted  by 
Christ   and  his  apostles,  and  has  been  spread  throughout  the 
world,  and  which  still  constitutes  the  main  stock  of  Christianity  ; 
that  to  which  all  the  fathers  of  antiquity  and  the  saints  of  all 
nges  have  belonged  on  earth,  and  still  belonj^  in  the  bright  re- 
gions above ;  that  which  has  endured  and  overcome  the  perse- 


cutions  and    heresies   of 


eighteen 


centuries ;    m   short,   that 


against  which  the  gates  of  hell  have  not  prevailed,  and  we  are 
assured,  never  shall  prevail.  All  this  is  implied  by  my  title  of 
Catholic. 

But  to  form  a  more  accurate  opinion  of  the  number  and  dif- 
fusiveness of  Catholics,  compared  with  any  sect  of  Protestants, 
it  is  proper  to  make  a  slight  survey  of  their  state  in  the  four 
quarters  of  the  world.     In  Europe,  then,  notwithstanding  the 

•  Epist.  I7().ad  S.  Sever.  +  Contra  Gaiulent.l.  iii.  r.  1. 

\  Comnionit.  The  same  father  briefly  and  accurately  defines  the  CatholU) 
doctrine  to  be  that  which  has  been  believed  Semper  et  ubique  tl  ab  omnibvu. 


168 


Letter  XXVI. 


revolutionary  persecution  which  the  Catholic  religion  has  en. 
dured  and  is  enduring,  it  is  still  the  religion  of  the  several 
states  of  Italy,  and  most  of  the  Swiss  Cantons,  of  Piedmont,  of 
France,  of  Spain,  of  Portugal,  and  of  the  islands  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, of  three  parts  in  four  of  the  Irish,  of  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Bohemia,  Germany,  Hungary, 
and  the  neighbouring  provinces ;  and,  in  those  kingdoms  and 
states  in  which  it  is  not  the  established  religion,  its  followers 
are  ^.ery  numerous,  as  in  Holland,  Russia,  Turkey,  the  Lu- 
theran and  Calvinibtic  states  of  Germany  and  England.     Even 
in  Sweden  and  Denmark  several  Catholic  congregations,  with 
their  respective  pastors,  are  to  be  found.     The  whole  vast  con- 
tinent of  South  America,  inhabited  by  many  millions  of  con- 
verted Indians,  as  well  as  by  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  may 
be  said  to  be  Catholic.     The  same  may  be  said  of  the  empire 
of  Mexico,  and  the  surrounding  kingdoms  in  North  America, 
including    California,   Cuba,   Hispaniola,    &.c.     Canada    and 
Louisiana  are  chiefly  Catholic ;  and  throughout   tiie   United 
Provinces,  the  Catholic  religion,  with  its  several  estabHshnients, 
is  completely  protected,  and  unboundedly  propagated.    To  say 
nothing  of  the  islands  of  Africa  inhabited  by  CathoHcs,  such  as 
Malta,  Madeira,  Cape  Verd,  the  Canaries,  the  Azores,  Mauri- 
tius, Goree,  &c.  there  are  numerous  churches  of  Catholics,  esta- 
blished, and  organized  under  their  pastors,  in  Egypt,  Ethiopia, 
Algiers,  Tunis,  and  the  other  Barbary  states  on  the  northern 
coast ;  and  thcnrp,  in  all  the  Portuguese  settlements  along  the 
western  coast,  particularly  at  Angola  and  Congo.     Even  m 
the  eastern  coast,  especially  in  the  kingdom  of  Zanquebar  and 
Monomotapa,  are   numerous  Catholic    churches.     There   are 
also  numerous  C  ^tholic  priests  and  many  bishops,  with  numer- 
ous flocks,  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Asia.     All  the  Ma- 
ronites  about  Mount  Libanus,  with  their  bishops,  priests  and 
monks,  are  Catholics,  so  are  many  of  the  Armenians,  Persians, 
and  other  Christians,  of  the  surrounding  kingdoms  and   pro- 
vinces.*    In  whatever  islands  or  states  the  Portuguese  or  Spa- 
nish power  does  prevail,  or  has  prevailed,  most  of  the  inhubitnnts, 
and  in  some  all  of  them  have  been  converted.     The  whole 
population  of  the  Philippine  islands,  consisthig  of  two  millions 
of  souls,  is  all  Catholic.     The  diocese  of  Gon  contains  four 
hundred  thousand  Catholics.     In  short,  the  number  of  Catho- 
lics is  so  great  throughout  all  the  peninsula  of  India  within  the 
Ganges,  notwithstanding  the  power  and  influence  of  Britain,  as 

'^  See  Sir  R.  Steel's  aucoutit  of  tlic  Culhulic  Religion  throughout  the  world. 


Letter  XXVL 


159 


liQ;ion  has  en- 
)f  the  several 
Piedmont,  of 
i  in  the  Medi- 
ar  the  greater 
iny,  Hungary, 
kingdoms  and 
,  its  followers 
•key,  the  Lu- 
gland.  Even 
egations,  with 
bole  vast  con- 
lions  of  con- 
rtuguese,  may 
of  the  empire 
[>rth  America, 
Canada  and 
t  the  United 
stablishnients, 
ited.  To  say 
liolics,  such  as 
xores,  Mauri- 
atholics,  esta- 
ypt,  Ethiopia, 
the  northern 
?nts  along  the 
;o.  Even  m 
anquebar  and 

There  are 
,  with  nunier- 

All  the  Ma- 
;,  priests  and 
ans,  Persians, 
•ms  and  pro- 
j,ucsc  or  Spa- 
te inhabitants, 

The  wholo 
two  millions 
contains  four 
)er  of  Catiio- 
lia  within  the 
of  Britain,  as 

hout  the.  world 


to  excite  the  jealousy  and  complaints  of  the  celebrated  Protest- 
ant n  'issionary,  Dr.  Buchanan.*  In  a  late  parliamentary 
record,  it  is  stated  that  in  TravancOi  and  Cochin  is  a  Catholic 
archbishopric  and  two  bishoprics,  one  of  which  contains  thirty- 
five  thousand  communicants. -f  There  are  numerous  Catholic 
flocks,  with  their  priests  and  even  bishops,  in  all  the  kingdoms 
and  states  beyond  the  Ganges,  particularly  in  Siani,  Cochin- 
china,  Tonquin,  and  the  difterent  provinces  of  the  Chinese  em- 
pire. I  must  add,  on  this  subject,  that,  whereas,  none  of  the 
great  Protestant  sects  was  ever  much  more  numerous  or  widely 
spread  than  it  is  at  present,  the  Catholic  church,  heretofore, 
prevailed  in  all  the  countries  which  they  now  collectively  in- 
habit. The  same  may  be  said  with  respect  to  the  Greek  schis- 
matics, and  in  a  great  measure  to  the  Mahometans.  It  is  in 
this  point  of  view  that  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Marsh  ought  to  in- 
stitute his  comparison  between  the  church  of  England  and  the 
church  of  Rome ;  J  or  rather  the  Catholic  church,  in  communion 
with  the  See  of  Rome.  In  the  mean  time,  we  are  assured  by  his 
fellow  prelate,  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  that  "  The  articles  and 
liturgy  of  the  church  of  England  do  not  correspond  with  the 
sentiments  of  the  eminent  reformers  on  the  continent,  or  with 
the  creeds  of  any  Protestant  churches  there  established."^  And 
with  respect  to  this  very  church,  nothing  would  be  more  incon- 
sistent than  to  ascribe  the  greater  part  of  the  population  of  our 
two  islands  to  it.  For  if  the  Irish  Catholics,  the  Scotch  Pres- 
hyterians,  the  English  Methodists  and  other  Dissenters,  together 
with  the  vast  population  who  neither  art  nor  profess  to  be  of 
any  religion  at  all,  are  subtracted,  to  what  a  comparativeh 
small  numbf  r  would  the  church  of  England  be  reduced  !  And^ 
how  utterly  absurd  would  it  be  for  her  to  pretend  to  be  the 
Catholic  cLurch !  Nor  are  these  the  only  subtractions  to  be 
made  from  her  numbers,  and  indeed  from  those  of  all  other 
Christian  societies,  divided  from  the  true  church  ;  since,  there 
being  but  one  baptism,  all  the  young  children  who  have  been 
baptized  in  them,  and  all  invincibly  ignorant  Christians,  who 
exteriorly  adhere  to  them,  reallj'  belong  to  the  Catholic  church. 
as  I  have  shown  above. 

In  finishing  this  subject,  I  shall  quote  a  passage  from  St.  Au- 
gustin,  which  is  as  applicable  to  the  sectaries  of  this  age  as  it 


•  See  Christian  Researches  in  Asia,  p.  131.    Mem.  Eccl. 
t  Dr.  Kerr's  Letter,  qnoted  in  the  late  parliamentary  Report  on  the  Cs^tholio 
QucKiion,  p.  487. 
I  Sec  his  Comparative  View  of  the  Churches  of  Euglaud  and  Rome  I 
»  Charge,  i.i  1803, 

17 


160 


Letter  XXFL 


-Was  to  those  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  "  There  are  here- 
tics every  where,  but  not  the  same  heretics  every  where.  For 
there  is  one  sort  in  Africa,  another  sort  in  the  East,  a  third  sort 
in  Egypt,  and  a  fourth  sort  in  Mesopotamia,  being  different  in 
different  countries,  though  all  produced  by  the  same  mother, 
namely,  pride.  Thus  also  the  faithful  are  all  born  of  one  com- 
mon mother,  the  Catholic  church;  and  though  they  are  every 
where  dispersed,  they  are  every  where  the  same."* 

But  it  is  still  more  necessary  that  the  true  church  should  be 
Catholic  or  Universal  as  to  time  than  as  to  numbers  or  to  place. 
If  thore  ever  was  a  period  since  her  foundation,  in  which  she  has 
failed,  by  teaching  or  promoting  error  or  vice,  then  the  pro- 
mises of  the  Almighty  in  favour  of  the  seed  of  David  and  the 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  in  the  Book  of  Psalms,-}-  and  in  those 
of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Daniel,  have  failed  ;J  ihen  the  more 
explicit  promises  of  Christ,  concerning  this  church  and  her 
pastors  have  failed  ;§  then  the  Creed  itself,  which  is  the  subject 
of  our  present  discussion,  has  been  false.  ||  On  this  point,  learn- 
ed Protestants  have  been  wonderfully  embarrassed,  and  have  in- 
volved themselves  in  the  most  palpable  contradictions,  A  great 
proportion  of  them  have  maintained  that  the  church,  in  past 
ages,  totally  failed,  and  became  the  synagogue  of  satap,  and 
that  its  head  pastor,  the  bishop  of  Rome,  was  and  is  the  man  of 
sin,  the  identical  Antichrist :  but  they  have  never  been  able  to 
settle  among  tbeiTiaelves,  when  this  most  remarkable  of  all  revo- 
lutions since  the  world  began,  actually  took  place  ;  or  who  were 
the  authors,  and  who  the  opposers  of  it ;  or  by  what  strange 
means  the  former  prevailed  on  so  many  millions  of  people  of 
different  nations,  languages,  and  interests,  throughout  Christen- 
dom, to  give  up  the  supposed  pure  religion,  which  they  had 
learned  from  their  fathers,  and  to  embrace  a  pretended  new 
and  false  system,  which  its  adversaries  now  call  Popery  I  In 
a  word,  there  is  no  way  of  accounting  for  the  pretended  change 
of  religion,  at  whatever  period  this  may  be  fixed,  but  by  sup- 
posing, as  I  have  said,  that  the  whole  collection  of  Christians, 
on  some  one  night,  went  to  bed  Protestants,  and  awoke  the  next 
morning  Papists ! 

That  the  church  in  conununion  with  the  See  of  Rome  is  the 
original,  as  well  as  the  most  numerous  church,  is  evident  in 


■^m 


IS-    * 


•  Lib.  de  Pact.  c.  8.  t  Pa.  Ixxxviii.  alias  Ixxxiz.  &c. 

X  Is.  c.  liv.  lix.  Jerem.  xxxi.  31.   I>an.  ii.  44. 

t  Mat.xvi.  18 xxviii.  19,20. 

il  r  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic  churcik  '     ' 


3»X€«er  XXVL 


161 


several  points  of  view.     The  stone  cries  out  of  the  wallf  as  the 
prophet  expresses  it,*  in  testimony  of  this.     I  mean  that  our 
veneic<.jle  cathedrals  and  other  stone  churches,  built  by  Catho- 
lie  hands  and  for  the  Catholic  worship,  so  as  to  resist,  in  some 
sort,  that  which  is  now  performed  in  them,  proclaim  that  ours 
is  the  ancient  and  original  church.     This  is  still  more  clear 
from  the  ecclesiastical  historians  of  our  own  as  well  as  other 
nations.     Venerable  Bede,  in  particular,  bears  witness,!  that 
the  Roman  missionary,  St.  Augustin  of  Canterbury,  and  his 
companions,  converted  our  Saxon  ancestors,  at  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century,  to  the  belief  of  the  Pope's  supremacy,  transub- 
stantiation,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  purgatory,  the  invocation 
of  saints,  and  the  other  Catholic  doctrines  and  practices,  as 
learned  Protestants  in  general  agree.f     Now,  as  these  mission- 
aries were  found  to  be  of  the  same  faith  and  religion,  not  only 
with  the  Irish,  Ficts,  and  Scots,  who  were  converted  almost  two 
centuries  before  them,  but  also  with  the  Britons  or  Welsh,  who 
became  Christians  in  the  second  century,  so  as  (mly  to  diffei 
from  them  about  the  time  of  keeping  Easter  and  a  few  other  un- 
essential points,  this  circumstance  alone  proves  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion to  have  been  that  of  the  church  in  the  aforesaid  early 
age.     Still  the  most  demonstrative  proofs  of  the  antiquity  and 
originality  of  our  religion  are  gathered  from  comparing  it  with 
that  contained  in  the  works  of  the  ancient  fathers.     An  attempt 
was  made,  during  a  certain  period,  by  some  eminent  Protest- 
ants, especially  in  this  country,  to  press  the  fathers  into  their 
service.  Among  these,  bishop  Jewel  of  Sarum,  was  the  most  con- 
spicuous.    He  not  only  boasted  that  those  venerable  witnesses 
of  the  primitive  doctrine  were  generally  on  his  side,  but  also 
published  the  following  challenge  to  the  Catholics  :  "  Let  them 
show  me  but  one  only  father,  one  doctor,  one  sentence,  two 
lines,  and  the  field  is  theirs."^     However,  this  his  vain  boast- 
ing, or  rather  deliberate  impugning  of  the  known  truth,  only 
sei'ved  to  scandalize  sober  and  learned  Protestants,  and  among 
others,  his  biographer.  Dr.  Humphreys,  who  complains  that  he 
thereby  "  Gave  a  scope  to  dw  Papists,  and  spoiled  himself  and 
the  Protestant  church." li     In  fact,  this  hypocrisy,  joined  with 
his  shameful  falsification  of  the  fathers,  in  quoting  them,  occa- 
sioned the  conversion  of  a  beneficed  clergyman,  and  one  of  tlie 


•  Habak.  ii.  11.  t  Hist.  Eccles. 

X  Bishop  Bale.     Humphreys  the  Centiir.  of  Masrdeb.  &c.  .    .. 

i  Jewel's  Sermon  at  St.  Paul's  Cross ;  likewise  his  Answers  to  Dr.  Cole. 
11  Life  of  Jewel,  quoted  by  Walsinghatn,  in  his  invaluable  Search  inloMattert 
of  Religion,  ^A12. 


r  m 


U2 


Utter  XXVIL 


ablest  writers  of  hiB  a^,  Dr.  W.  Reynolds.*  Most  Protestant 
writers  of  later  timcAf  follow  the  late  Dr.  Middleton,  and  Lu- 
ther himself,  in  gi'.i  v;  «p  the  ancient  fathers  to  the  Catholics 
without  reserve,  and  thereby  the  faith  of  the  Christian  church 
during  the  six  first  centuries,  of  which  faith  these  fathers  were 
the  witnesses  and  the  teachers.  Among  other  passages  to  this 
purpose,  the  above  named  doctor  writes  as  follows :  "  Every 
one  must  see  what  a  resemblance  the  principles  and  practice  of 
the  fourth  century  bear  to  the  present  rites  of  the  Popish 
chttrch."J  Thus,  by  the  confession  of  her  most  learned  adver- 
saiies  our  church  is  not  less  CATHOLIC  or  Universal^  as  to 
tme,  than  she  is  with  respect  to  name,  locality^  and  numbers. 

I  am,  &c. 

•i-.a  ..^O'  .'     •;.:/       -.-.     ..:,  J.  M. 


w 


1mI 


i''  .  !.■ 


Ji,  ;:. 


T  u. 


ri  Hi- 


I 


LETTER  XXVII. 
To  JAMES  BROWK,  Esq. 

OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 


'■•"        Dear  Sir,'^''  '  •'■ '•'■  ■'    -   ^  ^ 

I  HAVE  received  the  letter  written  by  your  visiter,  the  Rev. 
Joshua  Clark,  B.  D.  at  the  request,  as  he  states,  of  certain  mem- 
bers of  your  society,  animadverting  on  my  last  to  you ;  an  an- 
swer to  which  letter  I  am  requested  to  address  to  you.  The 
Reverend  gentleman's  arguments  are  by  no  means  consistent 
one  with  another;  for  like  other  determined  controvertists,  he 
attacks  his  adversary  with  every  kind  of  weapon  that  comes  to 
his  hand,  in  the  hopes  jpcr/a5  et  nefas  of  demolishing  him.  He 
maintains,  in  the  first  place,  that,  though  Protestantism  was  not 
visible  before  it  was  unveiled  by  Luther,  it  subsisted  in  the 
hearts  of  the  true  faithful,  ever  since  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
and  that  the  believers  in  it  constituted  the  real  primitive  Catho- 
lic church.  To  this  groundless  assumption  I  answer,  that  an 
invisible  church  is  no  church  at  all;  that  the  idea  of  such  a 
church  is  at  variance  with  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  re- 
specting Jesus  Christ's  future  church,  where  they  describe  it  as 

•  Dodd*8  Church  Hist.  vol.  ii.  ' ' '  • ' ' . 

t  See  the  acknowledgment,  on  this  head,  of  the  leairned  Frotestanti,  Obretcht, 
DumouUn,  ant^  Causabon. 
%  Inquury  into  Miraeldf  Introd.  p.  45. 


Latter  XXFIL 


163 


n 


Protestant 
,  and  Lu- 
Catholics 
ian  church 
ithers  were 
iges  to  this 
:  "  Every 
practice  of 
he  Popisli 
ned  adver- 
rsalf  as  to 
umbers, 

J.M. 


,  the  Rev. 
tain  mem- 
u;  an  an- 
ou.  The 
consistent 
ertists,  he 
I;  comes  to 
him.  He 
11  was  not 
led  in  the 
J  apostles, 
ve  Catho- 
r,  that  an 
of  such  a 
iphets  re- 
:ribe  it  as 


a  mountain  on  the  top  of  mountains,  Is.  ii.  2.  Mic.  iv.  2.  and  as  ' 
a  city,  vi^hose  watchmen  shall  never  hold  their  peace.  Is.  Ixii.  6. 
and,  indeed,  with  the  injunction  of  our  Lord  himself,  1'*  tell  the 
churchy  Mat.  xviii.  17,  in  a  certain  case,  which  he  mf  iirioii-?.    It 
is  no  less  repugnant  to  the  declaration  of  Luther,  v  ho  says  of 
himself,  "  At  first  I  stood  alone  :"*  and  to  that  of  Calvin,  who 
says,  "  The  first  Protestants  were  obliged  to  break  off  from  the 
whole  world  ;"f  as  also  to  that  of  the  church  of  England  in  her 
Homilies,  where  she  says,  "  Laity  and  clergy,  learned  and  un- 
learned, all  ages,  sects  and  degrees,  have  been  drowned  in 
abominable  idolatry,  most  detested  by  God  and  damnable  to 
man,  for  eight  hundred  years  and  more."J  As  to  the  argument 
ill  favour  of  an  invisible  church,  drawn  from  1  Kings  xix.  18. 
where  the  Almighty  tells  Elijah,  /  have  left  me  seven  thousand 
in  Israel,  whose  knees  have  not  been  bowed  to  Baal ;  our  divines 
fail  not  to  observe,  that  however  invisible  the  church  of  the  Old 
Law  was  in  the  schismatical  kingdom  of  Israel,  at  the  time  here 
spoken  of,  it  was  most  conspicuous  and  flourishing  in  its  proper 
seat,  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  under  the  pious  king  Josaphat. 
Mr.  Clark's  second  argument  is  borrowed  from  Dr.  Porteus, 
and  consists  in  a  mere  quibble.     In  answer  to  the  question ; 
"  Where  was  the  Protestant  religion  before  Luther  ?"  this  pre- 
late replies,  "  It  was  just  where  it  is  now  :  only  that  then  it  was 
corrupted  with  many  sinful  errors,  from  which  it  is  now  reform- 
ed."§     But  this  is  to  fall  back  into  the  refuted  system  of  an  in- 
visible church ;  it  is  also  to  contradict  the  Homilies,  or  else  it 
is  to  confess  the  real  truth,  that  Protestancy  had  no  existence  at 
ail  before  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  Reverend  gentleman  next  maintains,  on  quite  opposite 
grounds,  that  there  have  been  large  and  visible  societies  of  Pro- 
testanis,  as  he  calls  them,  who  have  stood  in  opposition  to  the 
church  of  Rome,  in  all  past  ages.  True,  there  have  been  here- 
tics and  schismatics  of  one  kind  or  other  during  all  that  time, 
from  Simon  Magus,  down  to  Martin  Luther;  many  sects  of 
whom,  such  as  the  Arians,  the  Nestorians,  the  Eutychians,  the 
Monotholites,  the  Albigenses,  the  Wickliffites,  and  the  Hussites, 
have  been  exceedingly  numerous  and  powerful  in  their  turns, 
though  most  of  them  now  have  dwindled  away  to  nothing :  but 
observe,  that  none  of  the  ancient  heretics  held  the  doctrines  of 
any  description  of  modern  Protestants,  and  all  of  them  main- 
tained doctrines  and  practices  which  modern  Protestants  repro- 


i,Obretcht, 


•  Opera.  Pref. 
I  Confut.  p.  79. 
17* 


t  Epist.  171. 


J  Perils  of  Idolatry,  p.  iii. 


164 


Letter  XXVIL 


bate,  as  much  as  Catholics  do.  Thus  the  Albigenses  were  real 
M anicheons,  holding  two  First  Principles,  or  Deities,  attributing 
the  Old  Testament,  the  propagation  of  the  human  species,  to 
Satan,  and  acting  up  to  these  diabolical  maxims.*  The  Wick- 
liffites  and  Hussites  were  the  levelling  and  sanguinary  Jacobins 
of  the  times  and  countries  in  which  they  lived  ;f  in  other  re- 
spects these  two  sects  were  Catholics,  professing  their  belief  in 
the  seven  sacraments,  the  mass,  the  invocation  of  saints,  purga- 
tory, he.  If,  then,  your  Reverend  visiter  is  disposed  to  admit 
such  company  into  his  religious  communion,  merely  because 
ihey  protested  against  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  some 
other  Catholic  tenets,  he  must  equally  admit  Jews,  Mahometans, 
and  Pagans  into  it,  and  acknowledge  them  to  be  equally  Pro" 
testanta  with  himself. 

Your  Reverend  visiter  concludes  his  letter  with  a  long  disser- 
tation, in  which  he  endeavours  to  show,  that  however  we  Catho- 
lics may  boast  of  the  antiquity  and  perpetuity  of  our  church  in 
past  times,  our  triumphs  must  soon  cease  V  v  the  extinction  of 
this  church,  in  consequence  of  the  persecution  now  carrying  on 
against  it  in  France,  and  other  parts  of  the  continent,  J  and  al$o 
from  the  preponderance  of  the  Protestant  power  in  Europe,  and 
particularly  that  of  our  own  country,  which,  he  says,  is  nearly 
as  much  interested  in  the  extirpation  of  Popery  as  of  Jacobin- 
ism.    My  answer  is  this :  I  see  and  bewail  the  anti-Catholic 
persecution  which  has  been,  and  is  carried  on  in  France  and  its 
dependent  states,  where  to  decatholicixe  is  tlie  avowed  order  of 
the  day.     This  was  preceded  by  tlie  less  sanguinary,  thnngh 
equally  anti-Catholic  persecution  of  the  emperor  Joseph  II.  and 
his  relatives  in  Germany  and  Italy.     I  hear  the  exultations  and 
menaces  on  'Jiis  account,  of  the  Wranghams,  De  Coetlegons, 
Towscns,  Bichenos,  Ketts,  Fabers,  Daubenys,  and  a  crowd  of 
other  declamatory  preachers  and  writers,  some  of  whom  pro- 
claim  that  the  Romish  Babylon    is  on   the  point  of  falli.ig, 
and  otiiers  that  she  is  actually  fallen.    In  the  mean  time,  though 
more  living  branches  of  the  mystical  vine  should  be  cut  ofl'  by 
the  sword,  and  more  rotten  branches  should  fall  off,  from  their 
own  decay,^  I  am  not  at  all  fearful  for  the  life  of  the  tree  itself; 

*  See  an  account  of  them,  and  the  authorities  on  which  this  reits,  in  Lttttn 
to  a  Prebendar/f  Letter  l\ .  t  Ibid. 

X  Namely,  in  1802. 

i  Since  the  preapnt  letter  was  written,  many  circuimtancflt  have  occurred  to 
•how  the  mUtaJcen  politics  of  our  rulers,  in  endeavouring  to  weaken  and  supplant 
the  reli^on  of  their  truly  loyal  and  conscientious  Catholic  subjects.  Amon;; 
ether  meaiurea  for  this  purpose,  may  bo  meationod  th«  late  initructions  Mot  to 


amoui<%  s 


Letter  XXVIl. 


ib& 


since  the  divine  veracity  is  pledged  for  its  safety,  as  long  as  the 
sun  and  moon  shall  endure,  Ps.  Ixxxix. ;  and  since  the  experience 
of  eighteen  centuries  has  confirmed  our  faith  in  these  divine 
promises.  During  this  long  interval,  kingdoms  and  empires 
have  risen  and  fallen,  the  inhabitants  of  every  country  have 
been  repeatedly  changed ;  in  short,  every  thing  has  changed 
except  the  doctrine  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Catholic  church, 
which  are  precisely  the  same  now  as  Christ  and  his  apostles 
left  them.  In  vain  did  Pagan  Rome,  during  three  centuries, 
exert  its  force  to  drown  her  in  her  own  blood ;  in  vain  did 
Arianism  and  other  heresies  sap  her  foundations,  during  two 
centuries  more ;  in  vain  did  hordes  of  barbarians,  from  the 
north,  and  of  Mahometans,  from  the  south,  labour  to  overwhelm 
her ;  in  vain  did  Luther  swear  that  he  himself  ^vould  be  her 
death  :*  she  has  survived  these,  and  numerous  other  enemies 
equally  redoubtable ;  and  she  will  survive  even  the  fury  and 
machinations  of  anti-chrlstian  philosophy,  though  directed 
against  her  exclusively  :  for  not  a  drop  of  Protestant  blood  has 
been  shed  in  this  impious  persectition.  Nor  is  that  church 
which,  in  a  single  kingdom,  the  very  head  quarters  of  infidelity, 
could  at  once  furnish  twenty-four  thousand  martyrs  and  sixty 
thousand  voluntary  exiles,  in  defence  of  her  faith,  so  likely  to 
sink  under  external  violence,  or  internal  weakness,  as  your  Rev. 
visiter  supposes.  Alluding  to  the  then  recent  attempt  of  the 
emperor  Julian  to  falsify  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  by  rebuilding 
the  Jewish  temple,  St.  John  Chrysostom  exclaimed,  "  Behold 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem ;  God  has  destroyed  it,  and  have  men 
been  able  to  restore  it  ?     Behold  the  church  of  Christ  j  God 

the  governor  of  Canada,  which  Catholic  provrnce  ulone  remained  faithful  at  the 
time  of  trial,  when  all  the  Protes'tant  provinces  abjured  their  allegiance.  To 
the  same  intent  may  he  cited  the  letter  of  Dr.  Kerr,  senior  chaplain  of  fort  St. 
George,  quoted  in  «he  late  Parliamentary  Report.  Ijy  this  it  appears  that  the 
Catholics  in  (hat  .irovinca  jrencraily  converted  about  three  hundred  Infidels  lo 
Christianity  ev*ry  year,  and  that  there  was  n  pro?pe«;t  nfthcir  converting  many 
of  the  Hmdo*  chiefs,  but  that  our  government  itt  ill  fare  ai(ui>isl  thear  rnnvtr- 
mm.  ThiM  is  the  infamous  worship  of  Juggernaut  itself  preferf-ed  to  the  religion 
which  coiiverted  and  civilised  our  ancestors.  Juggernaut,  as  Dr.  Buchanan  in- 
forms u^,  is  «  huge  idol,  carved  v/ith  the  most  ol)srene  figurcL.  round  it,  and  pul»- 
iicly  tvorshipped  before  hundreds  of  thousands  wiili  obscene  songs  and  unnaturul 
ritf^t  too  gross  to  be  described.  It  is  placed  on  a  carriage,  under  the  wheels  of 
vflioh  great  numbers  of  its  votaries  are  cticouragrd  to  throw  themselves  in  order 
(0  be  crushed  to  death  by  them.  Now  this  infernal  worship  is  not  hnrrfy  permit' 
/frf,  but  even  supportel  by  our  government  in  India,  as  it  takes  a  tribute  from 
each  individual  w!io  is  prestin'  at  it,  and  likewise  drfrnyi  the  exjteute  oftt,  to  lh« 
amour',  says  Dr.  Buchanan,  of  8,7()0/.  annually,  including  the  keep  of  the  pros, 
titutes,  tVo. 

•  Luther  ordered  this  epitaph  to  bo  ongraved  on  bU  tomb :  Puli$tram  nvtn$f 
morisni  era  tnon  /tw,  Pa  ■  \ 


l«G 


Letter  XXVIIL 


has  built  it,  have  men  been  able  to  destroy  it?"  Should  the 
Almighty  permit  such  a  persecution  to  befall  any  of  the  Pro- 
testant communions,  as  we  have  beheld  raging  against  the  Ca- 
tholic church  on  the  continent,  does  your  visiter  really  believe 
they  will  exhibit  the  same  constancy,  in  suffering  for  their  re- 
spective tenets,  that  she  has  shown  in  defence  of  hers  ?  In  fact ; 
for  what  tenets  should  tlieir  members  sufler  exile  and  death, 
since,  without  persecution,  they  have  all,  in  a  manner,  abandon- 
ed their  original  creeds,  from  the  uncertainty  of  their  rule  of 
faith,  and  their  own  natural  mutability  ?  Human  laws  and  pre- 
miums may  preserve  the  exterior  appearance,  or  7nere  carcass  of 
a  churchy  as  one  of  your  divines  expresses  it ;  but,  if  the  pastors 
and  doctors  of  it  should  Jemonstrate  by  their  publications  that 
they  no  longer  maintain  her  original  fundamental  ai'ticles,  can 
we  avoid  subscribing  to  the  opinion,  expressed  by  a  late  digni- 
tary, that  "  the  church  in  question,  properly  so  called,  is  not  in 
existence  ?"* 

>  !    I  I  am,  &£c. 

^.  >i>'.^  J.  M. 


LETTER  XXVIil. 
'      !    :      ^       To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq. 

O.V  THE  JtPOSTQLlCtTY  OF  THE  C'lTIIOLIC  CHURCH. 

Dear  Sir, 
The  last  of  the  four  marks  of  the  church,  mrntioued  in  our 
common  Creed,  is  Apostolicity.  We  cac\\  of  us  (Icchne,  In 
our  solemn  worship,  I  believe  in  one,  holy,  Catholic,  and  JJPOS' 
TOLICAL  church.  Christ's  last  commission  lo  his  apostles 
was  this:  Go  irarh  all  nations,  baptlzlnir  them  m  the  nc  nc  nj 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a^xrl  in!  I 
am  with  you  always,  even  unto  THE  EJVJ)  OF  THE 
WORLD.  Mat.  xxviii.  20.  Now  the  cvoiit  has  proved,  as  I 
have  alrcudy  observed,  that  the  apostles,  themselves,  were  only 
to  live  the  ordin^  term  of  man's  life  ;  therefore,  the  comrni'- 
sion  of  preachin«i,  •  1  ministering,  together  with  the  promise  ot 
the  Divine  assistance,  regards  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  n(» 
lets  than  tlie  apostles  themselves.     This  proves  that  there  must 


H  *-: 


*  Con.''-fiion&l,  p.  344. 


Letter  XXVUI. 


167 


tould  the 
the  Pro- 
t  the  Ca- 
y  believe 
their  re- 
in fact ; 
nd  death, 
abandon- 
ir  rule  of 
and  pre- 
carcass  of 
le  pastors 
tions  that 
icles,  can 
ate  digni- 
,  is  not  in 

:c. 
J.  M. 


URCII. 


iipd  in  our 
leclare,  in 
d  ^POS- 
is  apostles 

«<..-;  lo !  1 

9F   THE 

rovfid,  as  I 
,  were  only 
e  commi'- 
promise  oi 
ipostles,  m 
there  rrnwi 


have  been  an  uninterrupted  series  of  such  successors  of  tlie 
apostles  in  every  age  since  their  time,  that  is  to  say,  successors 
to  their  doctrine,  to  their  jurisdiction,  to  their  orders,  and  to 
their  mission.  Hence  it  follows  that  no  religious  society  what- 
ever, which  cannot  trace  its  succession,  in  these  four  points,  up 
to  the  apostles,  has  any  claim  to  the  characteristic  title,  APOS- 
TOLICAL. 

Conformablv  with  what  is  here  laid  down,  we  find  the 
fathers  and  ecclesiastical  doctors  of  every  age  referring  to  this 
mark  of  apostolical  succession,  as  demonstrative  of  their  belong- 
ing to  the  true  church  of  Christ.  St.  Irenseus  of  Lyons,  the 
disciple  of  St.  Polycarp,  who  himself  appears  to  have  been  con- 
secrated by  St.  John  the  evangelist,  repeatedly  urges  this  argu- 
ment against  his  contemporary  heretics.  "  We  can  count  up,'* 
he  says,  "  those  who  were  appointed  bishops  in  the  churches 
by  the  apostles  and  their  successors  down  to  us,  none  of  whom 
taught  this  doctrine.  But  as  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate 
the  succession  of  Bishops  in  the  different  churches,  we  refer  you 
to  the  tradition  of  that  greatest,  most  ancient,  and  universally 
known  church,  founded  at  Rome  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
and  which  has  been  preserved  there  through  the  succession  of 
its  bishops  down  to  the  present  time."  He  then  recites  the 
names  of  the  several  Popes  down  to  Eleutherius,  who  was  then 
living.*  Tcrtullian,  who  also  flourished  in  the  same  century, 
argues  in  the  same  manner,  and  challenges  certain  heretics,  in 
these  terms:  "  Let  them  produce  the  origin  of  theii  church ;  let 
them  display  the  succession  of  their  bishops,  so  that  the  first  of 
them  may  appear  to  have  been  ordained  by  an  apostolic  man, 
who  persevered  iv.  dieir  communion."  He  then  gives  a  list  of 
tiie  pontilFs  in  the  li^oman  See,  and  concludes  as  follows :  "  Let 
the  Heretics  feign  any  thing  like  this."f  The  great  St.  Au- 
gustin,  who  wrote  in  the  fifth  century,  among  other  motives  of 
credibility  ir  favour  of  the  Catholic  religion,  mentions  the  one 
in  question :  "  1  am  kept  in  this  church,"  he  says,  "  by  the  suc- 
cession of  p.  elates  from  St.  Peter,  to  whom  tlie  Lord  committed 
the  care  of  his  sheep,  down  to  the  present  bishop. "J  In  like 
manner  St.  Optatus,  writing  against  the  Donatists,  enumerates 
all  the  Popes  from  St.  Peter  down  to  the  then  living  Pope, 
Siricius,  "  with  whom,"  he  says,  "  we  and  all  the  world  are 
united  in  communion.   Do  you,  Donatists,  now  give  the  history 


•  Lib.  iii.  advon.  Ilfler.  c.  iii. 

t  "  Fingant  talealiquiil  hwretici." 
I  Contru  Kpist.  Fuiuluin. 


Prffwript. 


*»  if 


168 


Letter  XXVHL 


of  your  episcopal  ministry."*  In  fact,  this  mode  of  proving 
the  Catholic  church  to  be  apostolical  is  conformable  to  coroinon 
sense  and  constant  usage.  If  a  prince  is  desirous  of  showing 
his  title  to  a  throne,  or  a  nobleman  or  gentleman  his  claim  to 
an  estate,  he  fails  not  to  exhibit  his  genealogical  table,  and  to 
trace  his  pedigree  up  to  some  personage  whose  right  to  it  was 
unquestionable.  I  shall  adopt  the  same  precise  method  on  the 
present  occasion,  by  sending  your  society  a  slight  sketch  of  our 
apostolical  tree,  by  which  they  will  see,  at  a  glance,  an  abridg- 
ment of  the  succession  of  our  chief  bishops  in  the  apostolical 
See  of  Rome,  from  St.  Peter  up  to  the  present  edifying  pontiff 
Pius  VII,  as  likewise  that  of  other  illustrious  doctors,  prelates 
and  saints,  who  have  defended  the  apostolical  doctrine  by  their 
preaching  and  writings,  or  who  have  illustrated  it  by  their  lives. 
They  will  also  see  the  fulfilment  of  Christ's  injunction  to  tlie 
apostles  and  their  successors  in  the  conversion  of  nations  and 
people  to  his  faith  and  church.  Lastly,  they  will  behold  the 
unhappy  series  of  heretics  and  schismatics,  who,  in  difierent 
ages,  have  fallen  off  from  the  doctrine  or  communion  of^  the 
apostolic  church.  But  as  it  is  impossible,  in  so  narrow  a  com- 
pass as  the  present  sheet,  to  give  the  names  of  all  the  Popes,  or 
to  exhibit  the  other  particulars  here  mentioned  in  the  distinct 
and  detailed  manner  which  the  subject  seems  to  require,  I  will 
try  to  supply  the  deficiency  by  the  subjoined  copious  noie.f 

•  Contra  Parmen. lib.  ii.  ,     '   . 

t  Within  the  (irst  century  from  the  birth  of  Christ,  this  long  expected  Met- 
eiah  founded  the  kingdom  of  his  holy  church  in  Judeea,  and  chose  his  apostles  to 
propag;ate  the  same  throughout  the  earth,  over  whom  he  appointed  Simon,  as  the 
centre  of  union  and  fuad  pastor ;  charging  him  to  feed  his  whole  flock,  sheep  as 
well  as  lambs,  giving  him  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  changing  his 
name  into  that  of  PETER,  or  ROCK;  adding,  on  this  rock  I  will  build  my 
church.  Thus  dignified,  St.  Peter  first  established  his  See  at  Antioch,  the  head 
city  of  Asia,  whence  he  sent  his  disciple  St.  Mark  to  establish  and  govern  the  See 
of  Alexandria,  the  heHd  city  of  Africa.  He  afterwards  removed  his  own  See  to 
Rome,  the  capital  of  Europe  and  the  wor'V  Here,  having,  with  St.  Paul,  seal- 
ed the  Gospel  with  his  blood,  he  tronsn.  itted  his  prerogative  to  St.  Linus,  from 
whom  it  descended  in  succession  to  St.  Cletus  and  St.  Clement.  Among  (Iia 
other  illustrious  doctors  of  this  age  are  to  be  reckoned,  first,  the  other  apostle?, 
then  SS.  Mark,  Luke,  Barnaby,  Timothy,  Titus,  Hermps,  Ignatius,  bishop  ol 
Antioch,  and  Polycarp  of  Smyrna.  From  the  few  remaining  writings  of  thece 
may  be  gathered  the  nec^essity  of  unity  and  submission  to  bishops,  (radition,  the 
real  presence,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  veneration  for  relics,  &c.  In  this  a;jp, 
churches  were  founded,  beiidcs  the  above-mentioned  places,  in  Samana, 
throughout  lesser  Asia,  in  Armenia,  India,  Greece,  Egj'pt,  Ethiopia,  Italy, 
Spain,  and  Gaul;  in  this  apostolical  age,  also,  and  as  it  were  under  the  eyes  of 
the  apostles,  different  proud  innovators  pretended  to  reform  the  doctrine  which 
they  taught.  Among  those  were  Simon  the  Magician,  Ilymeneus  and  Philetui, 
ttie  incontinent  Nicolaitcs,  Cerinlhus,  Ebion,  and  Meander. 


Letter  XXVIII. 


169 


of  proving 
to  common 
of  showing 
lis  claim  to 
ble,  and  to 
[it  to  it  Was 
liod  on  the 
etch  of  our 
an  abridge 
apostolical 
ing  pontiff, 
rs,  prelates 
ne  by  their 
their  lives, 
tion  to  the 
lations  and 
behold  the 
n  diflerent 
ion  of|  the 
ow  a  com- 
3  Popes,  or 
he  distinct 
uire,  I  will 
noie.f 


xpectcd  Mej. 
lis  apostles  to 
Simon,  ai  the 
lock,  sheep  as 
chanofin"  his 
will  build  my 
och,  the  head 
overn  the  See 
lis  own  See  to 
it.  Paul,  seal- 
.  Linns,  from 

Among:  tho 
ther  apoptles, 
us,  bishop  ol 
iting;s  ot  theffl 
iradition,  the 

In  this  a?e, 
in  Samaria, 
liopia,  Italy, 
»r  the  eyes  of 
>ctrine  which 
and  Fhiletui, 


I  do  not,  dear  sir,  pretend  to  exhibit  a  history  of  the  church, 
nor  even  a  regular  epitome  of  it,  in  the  present  note,  any  more 

CENT.  II.  ,        .  , 

The  succession  of  chief  pastors  in  the  chair  of  Peter  was  kept  up  through  this 
century  by  'he  following  Popes,  who  were  also,  for  the  most  part,  martyrs:  An- 
Bcletus,  Evaristus,  Alexander  I,  Xystus  I,  Telesphorus,  Hyginus,  Hus  I,  Ani- 
cetus,  Soter,  Elcutherius,  who  sent  Fugatius  and  Damianus  to  convert  the  Bri- 
tons, and  Victor  i',  who  exertejl  his  authority  against  certain  Asiatic  bishops  for 
keeping  Easter  at  an  undue  time.  The  truth  of  Christianity  was  defended,  in 
this  age,  by  the  apologists  Qi^sadratus,  Aristides,  Melito,  and  Justin,  the  philoso- 
pher and  maKyr ;  and  the  rising  heresies  of  Valentinian,  Marcion,  and  Carpo- 
crates,  were  confounded  by  the  bishops  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  and  Theophylus  ol 
Antioch,  in  the  east,  and  by  St.  Irenseus  and  Tertullian,  in  the  west.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  Catholic  church  was  more  widely  spread,  through  Gaul,  Ger- 
many, Scythia,  Africa,  and  India,  besides  Britain. 

CENT.  III.  ;',       ; 

The  Popes  who  presided  over  the  church,  in  the  third  age,  were  all  emineot 
for  their  sanctity,  and  almost  all  of  them  martyrs.  Their  names  are  Zephyrinus, 
Calixtus  I,  Urban  I,  Pontianus,  Antherus,  Fabian,  Cornelius,  Lucius,  Stephen  I, 
Xystus  II,  Dionysius,  Felix  I,  Etuychian,  Caius,  and  Marcellinus.  The  most 
celebrated  doctors  of  this  age  were  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Minu- 
tius  Felix,  St.  Cyprian,  St.  I  lypolitus,  both  martyrs,  and  St.  Gregory,  bishop, 
gurnamed  for  his  miracles  Thaumaturgus.  At  this  time  Arabia,  the  Belgic  Pra 
vinces,  and  many  districts  of  Gaul,  were  almost  wholly  conveited :  while  P^ul 
of  Samosata,  for  denying  the  divinity  of  Christ,  Sabellus,  for  denying  the  dis- 
tinction of  persons  in  the  B.  Trinity,  and  Novatus,  for  denying  the  power  of  th« 
church  to  remit  sins,  with  Manes,  who  believed  in  two  deities,  were  cut  off  ad 
rotten  branches  from  the  Apostolic  tree. 

CENT.  IV. 

St.  Marcellus,  the  first  Pope  in  this  century,  died  through  the  hardships  of  ia>' 
prisonment  for  the  faith.  After  him  came  Eusebius,  Melchiades,  Silvester,  un- 
der whom  the  Councils  of  Aries,  against  the  Donatists,  and  of  Nice,  against  Iha 
Arians,  were  held,  Marcus  Julius,  in  whose  time  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Ro- 
man See  was  confirmed,  Liberius,  and  Damasus.  The  church,  which  hitherto 
had  been  generally  persecuted  by  the  Roman  emperors,  was,  in  this  age,  alter* 
nately  protected  and  oppressed  by  them.  In  the  mean  time,  her  numbers  were 
prodigiously  increased  by  conversions  throughout  the  Roman  empire,  and  also  in 
Armenia,  Iberia,  and  Abyssinia,  and  her  faith  was  invincibly  maintained  by  St. 
Athanasius,  St.  Hilary,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St.  Basil,  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan, 
&c.  against  the  Arians,  who  opposed  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the  Macedonians, 
who  opposed  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Aerians,  who  impugned  episcopacy, 
fiutiug  and  prayers  for  tlie  dead,  and  other  new  heretics  aad  schismatics. 

CENT„  V. 

During  this  age,  the  perils  and  sufferings  of  the  churc'-  were  greatv  but  so  alio 
were  th^  resources  and  victories  by  which  her  Divine  \  ounder  supported  her. 
On  one  hind  the  Roman  empire,  that  fourth  great  Dynasty,  compared  by  D.niel 
to  iron,  wps  broken  to  pieces  by  numberless  hordes  of  Goths,  Vandals,  Huns, 
Burgundians,  Franks  and  Saxons,  who  came  pouring  in  upon  the  civilized 
world,  and  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of  overwhelming  arts,  sciences,  laws,  And 
religion,  in  one  undistinguished  ruin.  On  the  other  hand,  various  clashes  of 
powerful  and  subtil  heretics  strained  every  nerve  to  corrupt  the  apostolicil  doc- 


170 


'^Zetier  XXFILl 


thsn  in  the  apostol'cal  tree ;  nevertheless,  either  of  these  will 
give  you  and  your  respectable  society,  a  sufficient  id:  %  of  the 


WW 


trine,  and  to  interrupt  the  course  of  the  apostles'  successors.  Among  these,  the 
Nestorians  denied  the  union  of  Christ's  divine  and  human  natures;  the  Euty- 
chians  confounded  them  together;  the  Pelagians  denied  the  necessity  of  divine 
prrar.e,  and  the  followers  of  Vigilantius  scoffed  at  celibacy,  prayers  to  the  saints, 
and  veneration  for  their  relics.  Against  these  innovators  a  train  of  i]. 
lustrious  pontiffs  and  holy  fathers  opposed  themselves,  with  invincible  fortitude 
and  decided  success.  The  Popes  were  Innocent  I,  Zosimns,  Boniface  I,  Celes- 
tin  1,  who  presided  by  his  legates  in  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  Xystus  III,  Leo  the 
Great,  who  presided  in  thatof  Chalcedon,  Hilarius,  Simplicius,  Felix  III,  Gela- 
fius  I,  Anastacius  II,  and  Symachus.  Their  zeal  was  well  seconded  by  some  of 
flie  brightest  ornaments  of  orthodoxy  and  literature  who  ever  illustrated  the 
church,  St  John  Chrysostom,  St.  Jerom,  St.  Augustin,  St,  Gregory  ofNys8a,&c. 
By  their  means,  and  those  of  other  apostolic  Catholics,  not  only  were  the  ene- 
mies of  the  church  refuted,  but  also  her  bounds  greatly  enlarged  by  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Franks,  with  their  king,  Clovis,  of  the  Scotch  and  the  Irish.  The 
apostle  of  the  former  was  St.  Palladius,  and  of  the  latter  St.  Patrick,  both  com 
iniraioned  by  the  See  of  Rome. 


CENT.  VI. 


] 


The  church  had  to  co:nbat  with  infidels,  hei'etics,  and  worldly  politicians,  in 
this  as  in  other  age?  -  but  failed  not  to  receive  the  accustomed  proofs  of  tht  di- 
vine  protection,  amidst  her  dangers.  The  chief  bishops  succeeded  each  other  in 
the  followinj;  order :  Flormisdas,  St.  John  I,  who  died  a  prisoner  for  the  faith, 
Felix  IV,  Boniface  II,  John  II,  Agapetus  I,  St.  Silverius,  who  died  in  exile  lor  the 
unity  of  the  church,  Vigilius,  Pelagius  I,  John  III,  Benedict  I,  Pelagius  II,  and 
St.  Gregory  the  Groat,  a  name  which  ought  to  be  engraved  on  the  heart  of  every 
Englishman  who  knows  how  to  value  the  benefits  of  Christianity,  since  it  was  he 
who  first  undertook  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  our  Saxon  ancestors,  and,  when  he 
was  prevented  by  force  from  doing  this,  sent  his  deputies,  St.  Auguatin  and  his 
companions,  on  this  apostolical  errand.  Other  beneficial  lights  of  this  age  were 
St.  Fulgentius  of  Ruspa,  Cesarius  of  Aries,  Lupus,  Germanus,  Severus,  Gregory 
of  Tours,  our  venerable  Gildas,  and  the  great  patriarch  of  the  monks,  St.  Bene- 
dict. The  chief  heretics  who.  1  'urbed  the  peace  of  the  church  werethe  Aie- 
ptiali  and  Jacobites,  lx)th  branches  of  Eutychianism,  the  Trithcists,  the  powerful 
supporters  of  the  Three  Chapters,  Severus,  Eleurus,  Mongus,  Athimius,and  Aca- 
cius.  A  more  terrible  scourge,  however,  than  these,  or  than  any  other  which 
the  church  had  yet  felt,  God  permitted  in  this  age  to  fall  upon  her,  in  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  impostor  Mahomet;  what  however  she  lost  in  some  quarters,  was 
made  up  to  her  in  others,  by  the  suppression  of  Ariaiiism  among  the  Visigoths  of 
Spain  and  among  the  Ostrogoths  of  Italy,  and  by  tlie  conversion  of  the  Lazes, 
Axumites,  and  Southern  English. 


CENT.  VIL 


I' 


i'he  Popes  in  th.N  century  are  most  of  them  honoured  for  their  sanctity, 
namely,  Sabinianus,  Bonif:u>.e  III,  Boniface  IV,  Deusdedit,  Boniface  V,  Hono- 
rius  I,  Severinus,  John  IV,  Theodoras,  Martin  I,  who  died  an  exile,  in  defence 
of  the  faith,  Engenius  I,  Vitalianus,  Domnus  I,  Agatho,  who  presided,  by  hii 
legates,  in  the  sixth  General  Couuiul,  held  against  the  Monotholites,  Leo  II,  He- 
nwlict  II,  John  V,  Conon,  and  Hergius  I.  Other  contemporary  do<;tor8  and  suinti 
ware  St.  Sophrouius  and  St.  John  the  almoner,  bishops,  and  St.  Muximus,  martyr, 
in  the  East.  SS.  Isidore,  Udcfons^iis  and  Eugcinus,  in  Spain,  S9.  Aniand,  Eligius, 
Oilier  and  Owon,  in  Frame,  and  SS.  I'aulinus,  VVilfrid,  Birinu?,  Felix,  (Jhnd, 
Aid.iu  und  Cuthbcrt,  iu  En^iaud.     T^^^  East,  at  Uiis  time,  was  dtatrAulcd  by  tii« 


I'M  '• 


Jib' 


Letter  XXVUL 


171 


these  will 
d  a  of  the 

ong  these,  the 
es:  theEuty. 
sily  of  divine 

to  the  saints, 
_  atrainofil. 
5>hle  fortitude 
face  I,  Celes. 
asII[,Leoihe 
5lJX  Ilf,  Gela. 
ed  by  some  of 
Uustrated  the 

ofNyssa,&c. 
*'ere  the  ene- 
y  the  conver- 
e  Irish.  The 
:k,  both  com 


'oliticiaiM,  in 
•oft  of  the  di- 
each  other  in 
for  the  Ikith, 
>  exile  for  the 
agius  If,  and 
leart  of  evcrv 
nee  it  was  he 
inU,  when  he 
:u9tin  and  his 
his  age  were 
rus,  Gregory 
ks,  St.  Bene- 
ere  the  Ace- 
the  powerful 
ius,and  Aca- 
other  which 
in  the  rapid 
URrters,  was 
Visigoths  of 
f  the  Lazes, 


«r  sanctity, 
e  V,  Hono- 
ill  defence 
ied,  hy  hii 
I^eo  II,  He- 
'8  iujd  sainti 
Us,  inarlyr, 
nJ,  Kiigius, 
^lix,  Chad, 
ulcU  by  Ui0 


uninterupted  succession  of  supreme  pastors,  which  has  subsisted 
in  the  See  of  Rome  from  St.  Peter,  whom  Christ  made  head  of 

Monolholite  heretics,  and  in  some  parts,  by  the  Fauliciaps,  who  revived  the  de- 
testable heresy  of  the  Manicheans,  but  most  of  all  by  the  sanguinary  course  of  the 
Mahometans,  who  overran  the  most  fertile  and  civilized  countries  of  Asia  and 
Africa,  and  put  a  stop  to  the  apostolical  succession  in  the  primitive  Sees  of  the 
East.  To  compensate  for  these  losses,  the  church  spread  her  roots  wide  in  the 
northern  regions.  The  whole  Heptarchy  of  England  became  Christian,  and 
diffused  the  sweet  odour  of  Christ  throughout  the  West.  Hence  issued  S8.  Wil- 
libord  and  Swibert  to  convert  Holland  and  Frizeland,  and  the  two  brothers,  of 
the  name  of  Ewald,  who  confirmed  their  doctrine  with  their  blood.  The  mar- 
tyr St. Killian,  who  converted  Franconia,  was  an  Irishman;  butallthese  apos- 
tolical men  received  their  commission  from  the  chair  of  St.  Peter. 

CENT.  VIII. 

The  apostolic  succession  of  the  See  of  Rome  was  kept  up  in  this  age  by  John 
VI,  John  VII,  Sisinnius,  Constantine,  Gregory  II,  Gregory  III,  Zacharias,  Ste- 
phen 11,  Stephen  HI,  Paul  I,  Adrian  I,  who  presided  by  his  legates  in  the  seventh 
general  council  against  the  iconoclasts,  and  Leo  III.  The  Saracens  now  crossed 
the  straits  of  Gibraltar  and  nearly  overran  Spain,  making  ninnerous  martyrs; 
while  Felix  and  Elipand  broached  errors  in  the  West,  nearly  resembling  those 
of  Neslorius.  The  most  signal  defenders  of  the  orthodox  doctrine  were  St.  Ger- 
Mianus  Patriarch,  St.  John  Damascene,  Paul  the  deacon,  Ven.  Bede,  St.  Ald- 
helm,  St.  Willibald,  Alcuin,  St.  Boniface,  bishop  and  martyr,  and  St.  LuUus. 
Most  of  these  were  Englishmen,  and,  by  their  means,  Hessia,  Thuringia,  Sax- 
ony, and  other  provinces,  were  added  to  the  Catholic  church. 

CENT.  IX. 

The  spostolic  tree,  in  this  age,  was  agitated  by  storms  more  violent  than 
usual;  1ml;  being  refreshed  with  the  dew  of  grace  from  above,  held  fast  by  its 
roots.  Clau'iius  of  Turin,  united  in  one  system  the  heresies  of  Nestorius,  Vigi- 
lantius,  and  the  Iconoclasts,  while  Ciotescale  laboured  to  infect  the  church  with 
predestinarianism.  A  more  severe  blow,  to  her,  however,  was  the  Greek 
schism,  occasioned  by  the  resentment  and  ambition  of  the  hypocrite,  Fhotius. 
But  the  greatest  danger  of  all  arose  from  the  overbearing  power  of  the  Anti- 
christian  miisselmen,  who  now  carried  their  arms  iiito  Sicily,  France,  and  Italy, 
and  became  masters,  for  a  time,  of  the  holy  See  itself.  The  succession  of  ith 
bishops,  however,  continued  uninterrupted,  in  the  following  order:  Stepheu 
V,  I'ascal  I,  Eugenius  II,  Valentin,  Gregory  IV,  Sergius  II,  Leo  IV,  Benedict  III, 
Mc.holas  I,  Adrian  II,  av1\o  presided  by  his  legates  in  the  eighth  general  council, 
John  VIII,  Marinas,  Adrian  III,  Sfephon  \  I,  Forinos^us,  Stenhrn  VII,  atid  Bomu* 
nus.  Other  props  of  the  church,  in  this  age,  were  Theodore  the  StuUile,  St.  Ig- 
natius, tlie  legitimate  jvatriurch  of  C.  P.  Rabanus,  Ilincniur,  and  Agobtird, 
French  bishops,  together  with  our  countrymen,  St.  Swithun,  Neot,  Grimbi.ld, 
Alfred,  and  Fdmnnd.  In  thi  *  age  St.  Ansgarius  convert'^  tlie  people  of  llolslein, 
ai.'d  SS.  Cyril  and  Methodius  tlic  Sclnvoiiinns,  Moravians,  aiid  Bohemians,  bj 
virtue  of  a  commission  from  Pope  Adrian  II. 

CENT.  X. 

The  sevprnl  Pojies  during  this  century  v/e re  Theodore  II,  John  IX,  Benedict 
IV,  Leo  V,  Chrislophei',  Sergius  III,  Anasta.iius,  Lrndo,  John  X,  Leo  VI,  Stc- 
lihen  VIII,  John  XI,  l.oo  VII,  Stcjihen  IX,  Martin  II,  Agapetus  II,  John  XII, 
ncnedict  V,  John  XII!,  hon.nns  II,  Itcnrdict  VII,  John  XIV,  John  XV,  and 
Grtgory  V.  Tliis  age  is  generally  eouaidcrcd  ua  the  Icubl  enlightened  by  piety 
Id 


I?2 


1>tie^  XXVIIL 


his  church,  up  to  the  present  Pope,  Pius  VII.     And  this  attri-   ■         i« 
bute  of  perpetual  succession,  you  are,  dear  sii ,  to  obsierve,  is   W^    •  j 


and  literature  of  the  whole  number.  Its  greatftst  disirrace,  howCTer,  arose  from 
the  misconduct  of  several  of  tlie  above-mentioneH  pontiffs,  owing  to  the  prevalence 
of  civil  factions  at  Rome,  which  obstructed  the  freedom  of  canonical  election ;  yet, 
in  this  list  of  names,  there  are  ten  or  twelve,  which  do  honour  to  the  papal  calen- 
dar, and  even  those  who  disgraced  it  by  their  lives,  performed  their  public  dut, 
in  preserving  the  faith  and  unity  of  the  church,  irreprovliabiy.  \i>  the  meantime 
a  crowd  of  holy  bishops  and  other  saints,  worthj  Lhe  n  -  .jf  the  a  /ost^es,  adorned 
most  parts  of  the  church,  which  rontin'ied  to  be  aug  •  ited  by  numerous  conver- 
sions. In  Italy  SS.  Peter  Damian,  Romnald,  Nilus,  and  R^tiiier,  bishop  of  Verona 
adorned  tlie  cliurch  with  their  sanctity  and  talents,  as  did  he  holy  prelates,  Ulric 
Wolfgang,  and  Bruno,  in  Germany,  and  Odo,  Dunstan,  (, swald,  and  Ethehvold, 
in  England.  At  this  time  St.  Adelbert,  bishop  of  Prague,  converted  the  Poles  by 
his  preaching  and  his  blood ;  the  Danes  were  converted  by  St.  Poppo,  the 
Swedes,  by  St.  Sigifrid,  an  Englishman,  tlie  pcopK;  of  le-'.-er  Russia  by  SS.  Bruno 
and  Boniface,  and  the  Muscovites  by  missionaries  sent  ;rom  Greece,  but  at  a  time 
when  that  country  was  in  communion  with  the  See  of  Rome. 

■  '        CENT.  XI. 

During  this  age  the  vessel  of  Peter  was  steered  by  several  able  and  virtuous 
ponti/fs.  Silvester  II  was  esteemed  a  prodia^y  of  learning  and  talents.  After 
hira  came  John  XVIII,  John  XIX,  Sergius  IV,  Benedict  VIII,  John  XX,  Bone- 
di'jt  ? X,  Gregory  VI,  Clement.  IF,  Damascus  11,  Leo  IX,  who  has  deservedly  been 
re«^koned  among  the  saints,  Victor  II,  Stephen  X,  Nicholas  1',  Alexander  II, 
Gregcry  VII,  who  is  also  canonized,  Victor  III,  and  Urban  II.  Other  defenders 
of  virtue  and  religion,  in  this  age,  were  St.  Elphege  and  I.anfr;inc,  archbishops 
of  Canterbury,  the  prelates  Burcard  of  Worms,  Fulbert  and  Ivo  of  Chartres, 
Odilo  an  abbot,  Alger  a  monk,  Guitmund  and  Theophylactus.  The  crown, 
also,  was  now  adorned  with  saints  equally  signal  for  their  virtue  and  orthodoxy. 
In  England  shone  St.  Edward  the  confessor;  in  Scotland,  St.  Margaret ;  in  Ger- 
many, St.  Henry,  Emperor;  in  Hungary,  St.  Stephen.  The  cloister  also  was 
now  enriched  with  the  Cisterchian  order,  by  St.  Robert;  the  Carthusian  order 
was  founded  by  St.  Bruno;  and  the  order  of  Valombroso,  by  St.  John  Gualbert. 
While,  on  one  hand,  a  gr«»at  branch  of  the  apostolic  tree  was  lopped  off,  by  the 
second  defection  of  the  Greek  church,  and  some  rotten  boughs  were  cut  off 
from  it,  in  the  new  Manicheans,  who  had  found  their  way  from  Bulgaria  into 
France,  as  likewise  in  the  followers  of  the  innovator  Bercngarius;  it  received 
fresh  strength  and  increase  from  the  conversion  of  the  Hungarians,  and  of  the 
Normans  and  Danes,  who  before  had  desolated  England,  France,  and  the  two 
Sicilies. 

;  CENT.  xir.  ' 

In  this  century  heresy  revived  with  fresh  vigour,  and  in  a  variety  of  forms, 
though  mostly  of  the  Manichcan  family.  Mahometanism  also  again  threatened 
to  overwhelm  Christianity.  To  oppose  these,  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  raise 
up  a  success  ion  of  as  able  and  virtuous  Popes  as  ever  graced  the  Tiara,  with  n 
proportionable  number  of  other  Catholic  champions  to  defend  his  cause.  These 
were  Paschal  II,  Gelasius  II,  Caiixtus  II,  Honorius  II,  Innocent  II,  who  held  the 
second  general  council  of  Latoran,  Celestin  II,  Lucius  II,  Eugenius  III,  Anasta- 
sius  IV,  Adrian  IV,  an  Englishman,  Alexander  III,  who  held  the  third  Lateran 
council,  Lucius  III,  Urban  III.  Gregory  VIII,  Clement  111,  and  Celestin  HI.  The 
doctors  of  note  were,  in  the  first  place,  t!ie  mellifluous  Bernard,  a  saint,  how- 
ever, who  wail  not  more  powerful  in  word  than  in  work;  likewise  the  venerable 


y 


PI 


Peter,  abb( 
Peter  Lom 
belt  of  Maj 
Lincoln,  ar 
propagated 
helm,  Petei 
ilans,  Patai 
sects  of  Mai 
by  the  con^ 
of  the  abo\ 
Ureakspeai 
engrafted  i 


Thf;  SuCC 

Lateran  cc 
bots,  and  a 
the  extinct 
Honorius  I 
Lyons,  Ale 
Lyons,  in  v 
into  it,  Inn 
Nicholas  I\ 
nonized,  an 
Thomas  of 
Pennafort. 
l^ewis,  kinj 
land,  St.  Fi 
bury,  St.  Tl 
tics  were  tl 
self  confessi 
the  Cathol 
Estonia,  wi 
the  mouths 
Tartars,  wi 
aries,  whot 
of  many  of 


Still  did 
all  oppositi 
verified, 
it;  Benedi 
XXll,Clei 
IX.  Amoi 
St.  Elizabe 
spouse  Del 
brock,  Pet 
and  practi! 
else  the  vi| 
together  w 
veiled  at  t 
true  Cythc 


Letter  XXVUI. 


173 


peculiar  to  the  See  of  Rome :  for  in  all  the  other  churches, 
ibunded  by  the  apostles,  as  those  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Alex- 


Peter,  abbot  of  Clugni,  St.  Anselm  and  St.  Thomas,  archbishops  of  Canterbury, 
Peter  Lombard,  master  of  the  sentences,  St.  Otto,  bishop  of  Bamberg,  St.  Nor- 
lieit  of  MagUeburg,  St.  Henry  of  Upsal,  St.  Malachy  of  Armagh,  St.  Hugh  of 
Lincoln,  and  St.  William  of  York.  The  chief  heresies,  alluded  to,  were  those 
propagated  by  iviarsilius  of  Padua,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  Henry  of  Tholouse,  Tanc- 
iielm,  Peter  Bruis,  the  Waldenses,  or  disciples  of  Peter  Waldo,  and  the  Bogomi- 
iians,  Patarins,  Cathari,  Puritans,  and  Albigenses,  all  the  latter  being  dilTerent 
sects  of  Manicheans,  To  make  up  for  the  loss  of  these,  the  church  was  increased 
by  the  conversion  of  the  Norwegians  and  Livonians,  chiefly  through  the  labours 
of  the  above  named  Adrian  iV,  then  an  apostolic  missionary,  called  Nicholas 
Hreakspeare.  Courland  was  converted  by  St-  Moinard,  and  even  Iceland  was 
engrafted  in  the  apostolic  tree  by  the  labours  of  Catholic  missionaries.        '  •">'    ' 


\t>f 


CENT.  XIII. 


Thf,  si;ccessors  of  St.  Peter  in  this  age  were  Innocent  III,  who  held  the  fourth 
Lateran  cc  ^ncil,  at  which  four  hundred  and  twelve  bishops,  eight  hundred  ab- 
bots, and  ambassadors  from  most  of  the  Christian  sovereigns  were  present,  for 
the  extinction  of  the  impious  and  infamous  Albigensian  or  Manichean  heresy. 
Honorius  Hi,  Gregory  IX,  Celestin  IV,  who  held  the  first  general  council  of 
Lyons,  Alexander  IV,  Urban  IV,  Gregory  X,  who  held  the  second  council  of 
Lyons,  in  which  the  Greeks  renounced  their  schism,  though  they  soon  fell  back 
into  it,  Innocent  V,  Adrian  V,  John  XXI,  Nicholas  III,  Martin  IV,  Honorius  IV, 
Nicholas  IV,  Celesfi'i  V,  who  abdicated  the  pontificate  and  was  afterwards  ca- 
nonized, and  Boniface  VIII.  The  most  celebrated  doctors  of  the  church  were  St. 
Thomas  of  Aquin,  St.  Bonaventure,  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  and  St.  Raymond  of 
Pennafort.  Other  illustrious  supporters  and  ornaments  of  the  church,  were  St. 
Lewis,  king  ui  France,  St.  Elizabeth,  queen  of  Hungary,  St.  Hedwidge  of  Po- 
land, St.  Francis  of  Assisium,  St.  Dominic,  St.  Edmund,  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, St.  Thomas  of  Hereford,  and  St.  Richard  of  Chichester,  'i'he  chief  here- 
tics were  the  Beguardi  and  Fratricelli,  whose  gross  immoralities  Mosheim  him- 
self confesses.  In  the  mean  time  Spain  was,  in  a  great  measure,  recovered  to 
the  Catholic  chorch  from  the  Mahometan  impiety ;  Courland,  Gothland,  and 
Estonia,  were  converted  by  Baldwin,  a  zealous  missionary:  the  Cumani,  near 
the  mouths  of  the  Danube,  were  received  into  the  church,  and  several  tribes  of 
Tartars,  with  oiie  of  their  emperors,  were  converted  by  the  Franciscan  mission- 
aries, whom  the  Pope  sent  among  them,  not,  however,  without  the  martyrdom 
of  many  of  them. 

CENT.  XIV. 

Still  did  the  promise  of  Christ,  in  the  preservation  of  his  church,  contrary  to 
all  opposition,  ajd  beyond  the  term  of  all  human  institutions,  continue  to  be 
verified.  The  '"ollowing  were  the  head  pastors,  who  successively  presided  ovei 
it;  Benedict  XI,  Clement  V,  who  held  the  general  council  of  Vienna,  John 
XXII,  Clement  VI,  Innocent  VI,  Urban  V,  Gregory  XI,  Urban  VI,  and  Boniface 
IX.  Among  the  chief  oruamonts  of  the  church,  in  this  age,  may  be  reckoned 
St.  Elizabeth,  quonn  of  Portugal,  St.  Bridget  of  Sweden,  Count  Elzear  and  his 
spouse  Delphina,  St.  Nicholas  of  Tolentino,  St.  Catharin  )  of  Sienna,  John  Rus- 
brock,  Pttter,  bishop  of  Autun,  &c.  The  Manichean  abominations  maintained 
and  practised  by  the  'I'urlupins,  Dulcinians  and  other  sects,  continued  to  exer- 
cise the  vigiHnce  and  zeal  of  the  Catholic  pastors,  and  the  Lollards  of  Germany, 
together  with  the  Wickliflites  of  England,  whose  errors  and  conduct  were  le- 
velled at  the  foundations  of  society,  as  well  as  of  religion,  were  opposed  by  all 
trueCi'thc'Iic..  'a  their  respective  stations.     The  chief  conquests  of  the  churub 


ml 


>& 


174 


lAiter  XXVIIl 


andria,  Corinth,  Ephesus,  Smyrna,  &;c.  owing  to  internal  dis- 
sensions and  external  violence,  iwi  succession  of  tlieir  bishops 

in  this  century  were  in  Lithuania,  the  prince  and  people  of  which  received  her 
fiiith,  and  in  Great  Tartary,  where  the  archbishopric  of  Cambalu  and  six  suf- 
frag^an  bishoprics  w'-e  established  hy  the  Pope.  Odoric,  the  mission!' -^y,  who 
furnished  the  accouuiuf  these  events,  is  known  himscW  to  have  baptized  twenty 
thousand  conrerts. 

CExNT.  XV. 

TTiG  siicoession  of  Popes  continued  through  this  century,  though  among  nu. 
merous  difficulties  and  dissensions,  in  the  following  order:  Innocent  VH,  Grego- 
ry XII,  Alexander  V,  John  XXfl,  Martin  V,  pjigenius  IV,  who  held  the  general 
council  of  Florence,  and  received  the  Greeks,  once  more,  into  the  Catholic  com- 
munion, Nicholas  V,  Calixtus  III,  Pius  II,  Paul  II,  t^ixtusIV,  Innocent  VIII,  and 
Alexander  VI.  In  this  age  flourished  St.  Vincent  Ferrer,  the  Wonder-worker 
both  in  the  order  of  grace  and  in  that  of  nature,  St.  Francis  of  Paula,  whose 
miracles  were  not  less  numerous  or  extraordinary,  St,  Laurence  Justinian,  Pa- 
triarch of  Venice,  St.  Antonius,  archbishop  of  Florence,  St.  Casioiir,  Prince  of 
Poland,  the  Venerable  Thomas  a  Kenipis,  Dr.  John  Gerson,  Thomas  Waldensis, 
the  learned  English  Carmelite,  Alphonsus  Tostatus,  Cardinal  Ximenes,  &c.  At 
this  period  the  Canary  Islands  were  added  to  tlie  church,  as  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  kingdoms  of  Congo  and  Angola,  with  other  large  districts  in  Africa 
and  Asia,  wherever  the  Portuguese  established  themselves.  The  Greek  gchis- 
matics  also,  as  I  have  said,  together  with  the  Armenians  and  MonotholiUs  of 
Egypt,  were,  for  a  time,  engrafted  on  the  apostolic  tree.  These  conquests, 
however,  were  damptby  the  errors  and  violence  of  the  various  sects  of  Hus- 
sites, and  the  immoral  tenets  and  practices  of  the  Adamites,  and  other  remnants 
of  the  Albigenset. 

■■■■■•''  ,    -    , 

-•-•-■•'•-M. .  .;■,;' _ '       CENT.  xvL  ■'■' 

Thiscentury  was  distinguished  by  that  furious  storm  from  tho  north,  which 
stripped  the  apostolic  tree  of  so  many  leaves  and  branches  in  this  quarter.  7'hat 
arrogant  monk,  Martin  Luther,  vowed  destruction  to  the  tree  itself,  and  engaged 
to  plant  one  of  those  separated  branches  instead  of  it ;  but  the  attempt  was 
fruitless ;  for  the  main  stock  was  sustained  by  the  arm  of  Omnipotence,  and  the 
dissevered  boughs  splitting  into  niimberless  fragments,  withered,  as  all  such 
Iwuglu  had  heretofore  done.     It  would  be  impossible  to  number  up  all  these  dis- 
cordant sects;  the  chief  of  them  were,  the  Lutherans,  the  Zuinglians,  the  .Ana- 
baptists, the  Calvinists,  the  Anglicans,  the  Puritans,  the  Fnmily  of  Love,  and 
the  Socinians.     In  the  moan  time,  on  the  trunk  of  the  apostolic  tree  grew  the 
following  Pontiffs;  Pius  III,  Julius  11,  who  held  the  fifth  Lateran  Council,  Lea 
X,  Adrian  VI,  Clement  VII,  Paul  ill,  Julius  III,  Marcclius  II, Paul  IV,  Pius  IV, 
who  concluded  the  Council  of  Trent,  where  2tJl  prelates  condemned  the  novel. 
ties  of  Luther,  Calvin,  &c.,  St.  Pius  V,  Gre-ory  XIH,  Sixtus  V,  Urban  VII, 
Gregory  XIV,  Innocent  IX,  and  Clement  VIII.    Other  supporters  of  the  Calho 
lie  and  apostolic  church  against  the  attacks  made  upon  her,  were,  Fisher,  bi 
shop  of  Rochester,  Sir  Thomas  More,  Chancellor,  Cuthbert  Maine,  and  sonn 
hundreds  more  of  priests  and  religious  who  were  martyred  under  Henry  Vlll 
and  Elizabeth,  in  this  cause;  also  the  Cardinals  Pole,  Hosius,  Cajetan  and  Al- 
len, with  the  writers  Eckiu»,  Cochleu,  Erasmus,  Campion,  Parsons,  Staplston, 
fcc.  together  with  that  constellation  of  great  saints  which  then  appeared,  SS. 
Charles  Borromeo,  Cajetan,  Philip  Neri,  Ignatius,  F.  Xavier,  F.  Borgia,  Teresa, 
&c.    In  short,  the  damages  sustained  from  the  northern  storm  were  amply  re. 
paid  to  the  church,  by  innumerable  conversions  in  the  new  eastern  and  western 
worlds.    It  is  computed  that  St.  Xavier  alone  preached  the  faith  in  52  kingdomi 


Utter  XXVin. 


17i 


ternal  dis- 
ir  bishops 

received  her 
i  and  six  suf- 
sionii  -^y,  who 
tizeU  twenty 


'h  among  nu- 
t  VII,  Grego- 
d  the  general 
Jatholic  cem- 
ent VIII,  and 
nder-worker, 
Paula,  whose 
ustinian,  Pa- 
air,  Prince  of 
as  Waldensis, 
ines,  &o.   At 
•e,  in  a  great 
lets  in  Africa 
Greek  jchig- 
onotholiUs  of 
se  conquests, 
ects  of  Hus- 
:her  remnants 


north,  which 
tiarter.  That 
,  and  engaged 
attempt  was 
nee,  and  the 
)  as  all  such 
all  these  dis- 
ms,  the  Ana- 
)f  Love,  and 
ree  grew  the 
[Council,  Lea 
IV,  Pius  IV, 
>d  the  novel. 

Urban  VII, 
)f  the  Calho 
,  Fisher,  bi 
16,  and  somi 

Henry  VIII 
Btan  and  Al- 
9,  Slaplston, 
jpeared,  SS, 
•gia,  Teresa, 
•e  amply  re. 
and  western 
52kingdomi 


has,  at  different  times,  been  broken  and  confounded.  Henco 
the  See  of  Rome  is  emphatically  and  for  a  double  reason  call- 
er independent  states,  and  baptized  a  million  of  converts  with  his  own  hand,  in 
India  and  Japan.  St.  Lewis  Bertrand,  Martin  of  Valentia,  and  Bartholomew 
Las  Casas,  with  their  fellow  missionaries,  converted  most  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
great  progress  was  made  in  the  conversion  of  the  Brazilians,  though  not  without 
the  blood  of  many  martyred  preachers  in  these  and  the  other  Catholic  missions. 
David,  emperor  of  Abyssinia,  with  many  of  his  family  and  other  subjects,  were 
now  reclaimed  to  the  church,  and  Pulika,  patriarch  of  the  P^estorians  in  Assyria, 
came  to  Rome,  in  order  to  join  the  numerous  churches  under  him  to  the  centre  of 
unity  and  truth.  , 

CENT.  XVIL 

The  sects   if  v'nch  I  have  been  speaking,  were,  at  the  beginning    ;    '.H  cen- 
tury, in  the  :our;  and  though  they  difl'ered  in  most  other  /Xij «;'!'.  yet 
they  comb  'v-es,  under  the  general  name  of  Protestar.  ..  'v    vf  i^itrow 
Christ's  6'  ^h.     These  attempts,  however,  like  th<   waw     tl  the 
troubled  d                      ashed  to  pieces  against  the  rock  on  which  he  dtid  built 
it.    On  the                    aey  weakened  themselves  by  civil  wars  and  fresh  divi- 
sions.    The  Luiiii  ra  s  split  into  Diaphorists  and  Adiaphorists,  the  Calvinista 
into  Gomarists  and  Arminians,  and  the  Anglicans  into  Episcopalians,  l-t«sbyte- 
rians.  Independents,  and  Quakers.    A  vain  effort  was  now  set  on  foot,  through 
Cyril  Lucaris,  to  gain  over  the  Greek  churches  to  Calvinism,  which  ended  in 
demo^istrating  their  inviolable  attachment  to  all  the  controverted  doctrines  of 
Catholicity.     Another  more  fatal  attempt,  was  made  to  infect  several  members 
of  the  church  itself  with  the  distinguishing  error  of  Calviuism,  under  the  name 
of  Jansenism.     But  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  continued,  through  the  whole  of 
the  century,  equally  to  make  head  against  Protestant  innovations,  Jansenistical 
vigour,  and  casuistical  laxity.     Their  names,  in  order,  were  these,  Leo  XI, 
Paul  V,  Gregory  XV,  Urban  VIII,  Innocent  X,  Alexander  VII,  Clement  IX, 
Clement  X,  Innocent  XI,  Alexander  VIII,  and  Innocent  XII.     Their  orthodoxy 
was  powerfully  supported  by  the  Cardinals  Bellarmin,  Baronius  and  Perron, 
with  the  bishops  Huetius,  Bossuet,  Fenelon,  Richard  Smith,  and  the  divines 
Petavius,  Tilleinont,  Pagi,  Thomassin,  Kellison,  Cressy,  &c.     Nor  were  the  ca- 
nonized saints  of  this  age  fewer  iti  number  or  less  illustrious  than  those  of  the 
former,  namely,  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  St.  Frances  Chantal,  St.  Camillus,  St.  Fi- 
oelis  Martyr,  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  &c.     Finally,  the  church  continued  to  be 
crowded  with  fresh  converts,  in  Peru,  Chili,  Terra  Firnia,  Canada,  Louisiana, 
Mingrelia,  Tartary,  India,  and  many  island?  both  of  Africa  and  Asia.     She  had 
also  the  consolation  of  receiving  into  her  communion  the  several  Patriarchs  of 
Damascus,  Aleppo,  and  Alexandria,  and  also  the  Nestorian  archbishops  of  Chal- 
dsea  and  Meliaporc,  with  their  respective  clergy. 

CENT.  XVIII. 

At  length  we  hnve  mounted  up  the  apostolic  tree  to  our  own  age.  In  this 
beresy  having  sunk,  for  tiie  most  part,  into  Socinian  indifference,  and  Jansen- 
ism into  philosophic;  infidelity,  this  last  waged  as  cruel  a  war  against  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  [and  O  glorious  mark  of  truth !  against  her  alone]  as  Decius  and 
Dioclesian  did  heretofore :  but  this  has  only  proved  her  internal  strength  of  con- 
stitution, and  the  protection  of  the  God  of  heaven.  The  Pontiffs,  who  have 
stood  the  storms  of  this  century,  were  Clement  XI,  InnocentXIII,  Benedict  XIV, 
Clement  XIII,  Clement  XIV,  Pius  VI,  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury Pius  VII  has  done.  Among  other  modern  supporters  and  ornaments  of  the 
church,  may  be  mentioned  the  Cardinals  Thomasi  and  Quirina,  the  bishops 
Lancruet,  La  Motte,  Beaumont,  Challoner,  Hornyold,  YV^almesley,  flay  aad 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


§ 


1.0 


1.25 


l:^  12.8     |2.5 
•^  1^    12.2 


I.I    l*^  ■ 


2.0 


1.4 


m 


1.6 


*- 


/^ 


:\iV 


A 


V 


RiotDgraphic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


^ 


\ 


O 


4> 


Vv 


33  WIST  MAIN  STRUT 

WltSTH.NY    t4SI0 

(71»)  •7a.4J03 


^ 

*^.^ 


^A^ 


176 


Utter  XXVIIL 


ed  THE  APOSTOLICAL  SEE,  and  being  the  head  See  and 
centre  of  union  of  the  whole  Catholic  church,  furnishes  the  first 
claim  to  its  title  of  THE  APOSTOLICAL  CHURCH.  But 
you  also  see,  in  the  sketch  of  this  mystical  tree,  an  uninterrupt- 
ed series  of  other  bishops,  doctors,  pastors,  saints,  and  piou^, 
personages,  of  different  times  and  countries,  through  these 
eighteen  centuries,  who  have,  in  their  several  stations,  kept 
up  the  perpetual  succession,  those  of  one  century  having  been 
the  instructors  of  those  who  succeeded  them  in  the  next,  all  ot 
them  following  the  same  two-fold  rule,  Scripture  and  tradition  ^ 
all  of  them  acknowledging  the  same  expositor  of  this  rule,  the 
Catholic  church,  and  all  of  them  adhering  to  the  main  trunk  or 
centre  of  union,  the  apostolic  See.  Some  of  the  general  coun- 
cils or  synods  likewise  appear,  in  which  the  bishops  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  church,  under  the  authority  of  the  Pope,  assent- 
bled,  from  time  to  time,  to  define  its  doctrine  and  regulate  its 
discipline.  The  sise  of  the  sheet  did  not  admit  of  all  the  coun 
cils  being  exhibited.  Again  you  behold,  in  this  tree,  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  apostolical  work,  the  conversion  of  nations, 
which,  as  it  was  committed  by  Christ  to  the  Catholic  church,  so 
it  has  never  heen  blessed  by  him  with  success  in  any  hands  but 
in  hers.  This  exclusive  miracle,  in  the  order  of  grace,  like 
those  m  the  order  of  nature,  which  I  treated  of  in  a  former  let- 
ter, ts  Itself  a  divine  attestation  on  her  behalf.  Speaking  of  the 
conversion  of  nations,  I  must  not  fail,  dear  sir,  to  remind  your 
society,  that  this  our  country  has  twice  been  reclaimed  from  Pa- 
ganism, and  each  time  by  the  apostolic  labours  of  missionaries, 
sent  hither  by  tlie  See  of  Rouic.     The  first  conversion  took 


Moylan.  Among  Ihe  writers  nre  Calmet,  Muratori,  Bergicr,  Feller,  Golhfr, 
Muniiing,  Hawanlon,  ami  Alln^n  Hiitler;  and  among  (he  per?on:tge8  di?titigni?h- 
cd  liy  thoir  piHy,  the  (h»od  Dauphin,  hi><  f^istHi  l^oiiisa  thp  Cnrmelite  nun,  his 
heroical  daughter  Kli/.ulielh,  hi«  othfic  ditughter  Clnlilda.  v/hnse  bealifioHtion  is 
liow  in  pmgres«,  as  those  olhi«hop  Ligii(»ri,  and  I'luil  o!  the  cross,  toiirider  c»f 
the  I'sHsionists  ;  as  also  VV.  Siirnimp,  Nolhar  \\m\  \„  r,iifai>l,  with  their  follow- 
martyrs  and  the  veufnilile  Lahvp,  kr.  Nor  has  tho  ajjoslolical  work  of  ronvprt- 
ing  InfMtels  been  neglected  hy  the  Catltolic  church,  in  the  niideit  of  »uch  pcrsie- 
cutions.  In  the  early  part  of  the  cpiituty,  numberlei>8  souls  were  gained  by  Ca- 
(liolir  preachers  in  the  kingdoms  of  Madura,  Cochinchina,  Tonqnin,  and  in  the 
empire  of  China,  including  the  penincula  ott'ona.  At  the  same  time  numeroui 
(■Avagcs  were  civilized  and  baptized  among  the  Ilnrons,  Miamis,  Illinois,  and 
other  tribes  of  North  America,  liut  the  nio^t  glorious  conquest,  bj^cause  the 
most  difficult  and  most  complete,  was  thai  gained  hy  the  Jesuits  in  the  interior 
of  South  America  over  the  wild  savages  of  Paraguay,  Uraguay  and  I'nrona,  to- 
gether with  the  wild  ('anisians,  Moxos  and  Chiquitcs,  who,  after  shedding  the 
blood  of  some  hundreds  of  their  first  preachers,  at  length  opened  their  hearts  to 
the  mild  and  sweet  truths  of  the  (lospel,  and  became  models  of  piety  and  morali* 
(y,  uor  leM  so  «f  industry,  civil  order,  niid  polity. 


ner. 


Leiier  XXIX. 


177 


ad  See  and 
les  the  first 
ICH.  But 
minterrujit- 
and  piou^ 
)ugh  these 
tioiis,  kept 
laving  been 
next,  all  ot 

I  tradition  j 
is  rule,  the 
in  trunk  or 
neral  coun- 
from  differ* 
ope,  assent - 
regulate  lU 

II  the  coun 
je,  the  con- 
of  nations, 
c  church,  so 
y  hands  but 
grace,  like 
former  let- 

iking  of  tiic 
cmind  your 
pd  from  Pa- 
(lissionaries, 
ersion  took 


''eller,  Gothor, 
jc»di?ti(i{jni?h- 
nclilR  nun,  his 
healificHtion  ii 
)S!,  (oiitiiler  tif 
Ih  their  fellow  - 
)rk  of  ronvprt- 
nft>n(:h  pcrsc- 
gnincil  h\  Ca- 
lin,  ami  m  the 
lime  numerous 
I,  illinoJ!,  and 
t,  b'^cauie  the 
in  the  interior 
nd  Parona,  to- 
r  shedding  tha 
their  hearts  to 
ity  aud  Diorali* 


place  in  the  second  century,  when  Pope  Eleutherius  sent  Fuga- 
tlus  and  Duvianus  for  this  purpose,  to  the  ancient  Britons,  or 
Welsh,  under  their  king  or  governor,  Lucius,  as  Bede  and  otlier 
historians  relate.  The  second  conversion  was  that  of  our  im- 
mediate ancestors,  the  English  Saxons  and  Angles,  by  St.  Au- 
gustin  and  his  companions,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  who 
were  sent  from  Rome,  on  this  apostolical  errand,  by  Pope  Gre- 
gory the  Great.  Lastly,  you  see  in  the  present  sketch,  a  series 
of  unhappy  children  of  the  church,  who,  instead  of  hearing  her 
doctrines,  as  it  was  their  duty  to  do,  have  pretended  to  reform 
them ;  and  thus,  losing  the  vital  influx  of  their  parent  stock, 
have  withered  and  fallen  off  from  it  as  mere  dead  branches. 

I  am,  &EC. 

J.  M. 


\'i 


IM' 


LETTER  XXIX. 
To  JAMES  BROWJ^,  Esq.  ^.        |      . 

OJV  THE  APOSTOLIC ITY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  MimSTRT, 

Dear  Siit, 
In  viewing  ike  apostolical  tree,  you  are  to  consider  it  as  re- 
presenting an  uninterrupted  succession  of  pontiffs  and  prelates, 
who  derive  not  barely  their  doctrine,  but  also,  in  a  special  man- 
ner, their  ministry,  namely  their  holy  orders  and  the  right  or 
jurisdiction  to  exercise  those  orders  in  a  right  line,  from  the 
apostles  of  Jesus  Christ.     In  fact,  the  Catholic  church,  in  all 
past  ages,  has  not  been  more  jealous  of  the  sacred  d^posite  of 
orthodox  dfoc/rt»c,  than  of  the  equally  sacred  deposites  odegitX' 
mate  ordination,  by  bishops  who  themselves  had  been  rightly 
ordained  antl  consecrated,  and  of  valid  jurisdiction  or  divine 
mission,  by  which  she  authorises  lier  ministers  to  exercise  their 
respective  functions  in  such  and  such  places,  with  respect  to 
such  and  such  p<>rsons,  and  uiulcr  sucfi  and  such  conditions,  as 
she,  by  the  depositaries  of  this  jurisdiction,  is  pleased  to  ordain. 
Thus,  my  dear  sir,  every  Catholic  pastor  is  authoriy.ed  and  en- 
abled to  address  his  lock  as  follows :   TAc  word  of  God  which  / 
unnounce  to  you,  and  the  holy  sacraments  which  I  dispense  to 
you,  I  am  QUALIFIED  to  announce  and  dispense  by  such  « 
Catholic  bishop,  who  was  consecrated  by  such  another  Catholic 


lis 


:t? 


Letter  XXIX. 


hishopf  and  so  orif  in  a  series,  which  reaches  to  the  apostles  them,' 
selves ;  and  I  am  AUTHORIZED  to  preach  and  minister  to  you, 
bv  such  a  prelate,  who  received  authority,  for  this  purpose,  from 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  apostolic  See  of  Rome.     Here- 
tofore, during  a  considerable  time,  the  learned  and  conscientious 
divines  of  the  church  of  England  held  the  same  principles,  on 
both  these  points,  that  Catholics  have  ever  held,  and  were  no 
less  firm  in  maintaining  the  divine  right  of  episcopacy  and  the 
ministry  than  we  are.     This  appears  from  the  works  of  one 
who  was,  perhaps,  the  most  profound  and  accurate  amongst 
them,  the  celebrated  Hooker.     He  proves,  at  great  length,  that 
the  ecclesiastical  ministry  is  a  divine  function,  instituted  by  God, 
and  deriving  its  authority  from  God,  "  in  a  very  different  man- 
ner from  that  of  princes  and  magistrates  :"  that  it  is  "  a  wretch- 
ed blindness  not  to  admire  so  great  a  power  as  that,  which  the 
clergy  are  endowed  with,  or  to  suppose  that  any  but  God  can 
bestow  it ;"  that  "  it  consists  in  a  power  over  the  mystical  body 
of  Christ  by  the  remission  of  sins,  and  over  his  natural  body  in 
the  sacrament,  which  antiquity  doth  call  the  making  of  Chtist^a 
body."*     He  distinguishes  between  the  power  of  orders  and  the 
authority  of  mission  or  jurisdiction,  on  both  vtliich  points  he  is 
supported  by  the  canons  and  laws  of  the  establishment.     Not 
to  speak  of  prior  laws ;  the  act  of  uniformity,!  provides  that 
no  minister  shall  hold  any  living,  or  officiate  in  any  church, 
who  has  not  received  episcopal  ordination.     It  also  requires 
that  he  shall  be  approved  and  licensed  for  his  particular  place 
and  function.    This  is  also  clear  from  the  fo'  'n  of  induction  of 
a  clerk  into  any  cure.  J     In  virtue  of  this  s^-        ,  when  Episco- 

{)acy  was  re-established  in  Scotland,  in  tli«.  ,''ar  16G2,  four 
^rrjsbyterian  ministers  having  been  appointed  by  the  king  to 
that  office,  the  English  bishops  refnsed  to  consecrate  them,  un- 
less they  consented  to  be  previcusly  ordained  deacons  ami 
priests,  thus  renouncing  their  former  ministerial  character,  and 
acknowledging  that  they  had  hitherto  been  mere  laymen.'^  hi 
like  manner,  on  the  accession  of  king  William,  who  was  a 
Dutch  Calvinist,  to  the  throne,  when  a  commission  of  ten  bi- 
shops and  twenty  divines  was  appointed  to  modify  the  articles 
and  liturgy  of  the  established  church,  for  the  purpose  of  form- 


V    •  Ecclesiast.  Politic.  B,  v.  Art.  77,  t  StHt.  13  nnd  14  Car.  2,  c.  4. 

^  "  CiirAm  etreg;imen  Hnimarnm  parochianonim  tibi  committimus." 
I  Collier's  Eccl.  Hift.  Vol.  ii.  p.  887.     It  a})pears  from  the  same  history  that 

four  othar  Scotch  minisleri,  who  had  formerly  permitted  themselves  to  be  con- 

iwcrated  biihopi,  were,  on  that  account,  exrommunicated  tnd  dcg;rBcle(l  by  the 

iirk.    Records,  N.  cxiii. 


LetUr  XXIX, 


179 


ing  a  coalition  with  the  dissenters,  it  appeared  that  the  most  lax 
among  them,  such  as  Tillotson  and  Burnet,  together  with  chief 
baron  Hales  and  other  lay  lords,  required  that  the  dissenting 
ministers  should,  at  least  be  conditionally  ordained f*  as  being 
thus  far  mere  laymen.  In  a  word,  it  is  well  known  to  be  the 
practice  of  the  established  church,  at  the  present  day,  to  ordain 
all  dissenting  Protestant  ministers  of  every  description,  who  go 
over  to  her,  whereas,  she  never  attempts  to  re-ordaui  an  apos- 
tate Catholic  priest,  who  offers  himself  to  her  service,  but  is 
satisfied  with  his  taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  law.-}-  This 
doctrine  of  the  establishment,  evidently  unchurches,  as  Dr.  Hey- 
lin  expresses  it,  all  other  Protestant  communions ;  as  it  is  an 
established  principle  that,  JVb  ministry  no  churchf'\.  and  with 
equal  evidence,  it  unchristians  them  also ;  since  this  church  una- 
nimously resolved,  in  1575,  that  baptism  cannot  be  performed 
by  any  person  but  a  lawful  minister.^ 

But  dismissing  these  uncertain  and  wavering  opinions,  we 
know  what  little  account  all  other  Protestants,  except  those  of 
England,  have  made  of  apostolical  succession  and  episcopal 
ordination.  Luther's  principles  on  these  points  are  clear  from 
his  famous  BttZ/  against  the  FALSELY  CALLED  order  of  bi- 
shops,^ where  he  says,  "  Give  ear  now,  you  bishops,  or  rather 
you  visors  of  the  devil :  Dr.  Luther  will  read  you  a  Bull  and  a 
Reform,  which  will  not  sound  sweet  in  your  ears.  Dr.  Luther's 
Bull  and  Reform  is  this,  A'hoever  spend  their  labour,  persons 
and  fortunes,  to  lay  waste  your  episcopacies,  and  to  extinguish 
the  government  of  bishops,  they  arc  the  beloved  of  God,  true 
Christians,  and  opposers  of  the  devil's  ordinances.  On  the 
other  hand,  whoever  support  the  government  of  bishops,  and 
willingly  obey  them,  they  are  the  devil's  ministers,"  he.  True 
it  is,  that  afterwards,  namely,  in  1542,  this  arch  reformer,  to 


\t  '  I 


■111 


ii.i; ' 


•  Life  ofTillotran  by  Dr.  Birch,  pp.  42.  176. 

t  Notwithstanding  these  proofs  of  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  th«  estahliihed 
church,  a  gjeat  proportion  of  her  modern  divines  consent,  at  the  prei«nt  day,  to 
sacrifice  all  her  pretensions  to  divine  authority  and  uninterrupted  succemion.  It 
has  been  shown  in  Tkt  Lelleri  to  a  Prebendary^  that  in  the  principles  of  the  cele- 
brated Dr.  Balguy,  a  priest  or  a  bishop  can  as  well  be  made  by  the  town  crier,  if 
commissioned  hy  the  civil  power,  as  by  the  metropolitan.  To  this  system,  Dr. 
Sturges,  Dr.  Hey,  Dr.  Paley,  and  a  crowd  of  other  learned  theologians  aubioribe 
their  names.  Even  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  maintaining  Episcopacy  to  be  ao 
apostolical  institution,  denies  it  to  be  binding  on  Christians  to  adopt  it :  wh>ch« 
in  fact,  is  to  reduce  it,  to  a  mere  civil  and  optional  practice.    Elem.  Vol.  ii.  i^^ 

f"  Ubi  nullui  est  Sacerdos  nulla  est  Eccletia.**     St.  Jerom,  &o. 
Elem.  of  Thool.  Vol.  ii.p.471. 

*  Adversus  falso  Nomin.    Tom.  ii.  Jen.  A.  D.  1525. 


18b 


^]^««r  XXJX. 


gratify  his  cliief  patron,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  took  upon  him- 
self to  consecrate  his  bottle  companion,  Amsdorf,  bishop  of 
Naumburgh  :*  but,  then,  it  is  notorious,  from  the  whole  of  his 
conduct,  that  Luther  set  himself  above  all  law,  and  derided  con- 
sistency and  decency.  Nearly  the  same  may  be  said  of  ano- 
ther later  reformer,  John  Wesley,  who,  professing  himself  to  be 
a  P'resbyter  of  the  church  of  England^  pretended  to  ordain 
Messrs.  Whatcoat,  Vesey,  &c.  priests,  and  to  consecrate  Dr. 
Coke  a  bishop  !f  With  equal  inconsistency,  the  elders  of  Hern- 
huth  in  Moravia,  profess  to  consecrate  bishops  for  England  and 
other  kingdoms.  On  the  other  hand,  how  averse  the  Calvin- 
ists,  and  other  dissenters,  are  to  the  very  name  as  well  as  the 
office  of  bishops,  all  modern  histories,  especially  those  of  En- 
gland and  Scotland,  demonstrate.  But,  in  short,  by  whatever 
name,  whether  of  bishops,  priests,  deacons,  or  pastors,  these 
ministers  respectively  call  themselves,  it  is  undeniable,  that  they 
are  all  self-appointed ^  or,  at  most,  they  derive  their  claim  from 
other  men,  who  themselves  were  self-appointed,  fifteen,  sixteisn, 

or  seventeen  hundred  years  subsequent  to  the  time  of  the  apos- 
tles.    '*•"**'  '♦^*'  '^iwMi\   mmii  HO  f.'m\rn\im  k  -xmnui     .r. 

The  chief  question  which  remains  to  be  discussed  concerns  the 
ministry  of  the  church  of  England ;  namely,  whether  the  first 
Protestant  bishops,  appointed  by  queen  Elizabeth,  when  the  Ca- 
tholic bishops  were  turned  out  of  their  Sees,  did  or  did  not  re- 
ceivi  'alid  consecration  from  some  other  bishop,  who,  himself, 
was  validly  consecrated .''  The  discussion  of  this  question  has 
filled  many  volumes,  the  result  of  which  is,  that  the  orders  are, 
to  say  the  least,  exceedingly  doubtful.  For,  first,  it  is  certain 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  of  this  church  was  very  loose,  as 
to  the  necessity  of  consecration  and  ordination.  Its  chief 
founder,  Cranmer,  solemnly  subscribed  his  name  to  the  position, 
that  princes  and  governors,  no  less  than  bishops,  can  make 
priests,  and  that  no  consecration  is  appointed  by  Scripture  to 
make  a  bishop  or  priest.J  In  like  manner,  Barlow,  on  the  va- 
lidity of  whose  consecration  that  of  Mathew  Parker  and  of  all 
succeeding  Anglican  bishops  chiefly  rests,  preached  openly  that 


':>m  ■»!;!  ,  1   ./;  .1,.  A.'i.j  '.■ 


*  Sleidan,  Comment.  L.  14. 
'  t  Dr.  Whitehead's  Life  of  Charles  and  John  Wesley.  It  appenn  that  Charlei 
^itii  horribly  scandalized  at  this  step  of  his  brother  John,  and  that  a  lasting 
Bchism  among  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  was  the  consequence  of  it. 

I  Burnet's  Hist,  of  Reform.  Records,  B.  iii.  N.  21,  See  also  his  Rec.  Part 
ii.  N.  2,  by  which  it  appears  that  Cranmer  and  the  other  complying  prelates  took 
out  fresh  comininions  on  the  death  of  Henry  Vlfl,  from  ICdward  VI,  to  gOToro 
thtnr  diocMes,  (/uran<e  beneplaeito,  like  mere  civil  ofHcers. 


LtUer  XXIX. 


tai 


bishop  of 
'hole  of  his 
erided  con- 
lid  of  ano- 
mself  to  be 

to  ordain 
ecrate  Dr. 
rsofHern- 
igland  and 
he  Calvin- 
i^ell  as  the 
3se  of  En- 
'  whatever 
tors,  these 
f,  that  they 
laim  from 
n,  sixteen, 
'  the  apbs- 

ncemsthe 
er  the  first 
en  the  Ca- 
lid  not  re- 
D,  himself, 
estion  has 
trders  are, 

is  certain 
y  loose,  as 

Its  chief 
i  position, 
can  make 
I'ipture  to 
►n  the  va- 
and  of  all 
penly  that 

.-« »  .-■■.■ 

that  Charlei 

lat  a  lasting 

lis  Rec.  Pali 
^relates  took 
If  toj|;oTorD 


the  king's  appointment,  without  any  orders  whatsoever,  suffices 
to  make  a  bishop.^  This  doctrine  seems  to  have  been  broach- 
ed by  him  to  meet  the  objection  that  he  himself  had  never  been 
consecrated :  in  fact,  the  record  of  such  a  transaction  has  been 
hunted  for  in  vain,  during  these  two  hundred  years.  Secondly, 
it  is  evident,  from  the  books  of  controversy,  ^ill  extant,  that  the 
Catholic  doctors,  Harding,  Bristow,  Stapleton,  and  Cardinal 
Allen,  who  had  been  fellow-students  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  first  Protestant  bishops,  under  Elizabeth,  and  particu" 
larly  with  Jewel,  bishop  of  Sarum,  and  Horhe,  bishop  of  Win- 
ton,  constantly  reproached  them,  in  the  most  pointed  terms, 
that  they  never  had  been  consecrated  at  all,  and  that  the  latter, 
in  their  voluminous  replies,  never  accepted  of  the  challenge  or 
refuted  the  charge,  otherwise  than  by  ridiculing  the  Catholic 
consecration.  Thirdly,  it  appears  that  after  an  interval  of  fifty 
years  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversy,  namely  in  the  year 
1613,  when  Mason,  chaplain  to  archbishop  Abbot,  published  a 
work,  referring  to  an  alleged  Register  at  Lambeth,  of  archbi- 
shop Parker's  consecration  by  Barlow,  assisted  by  Coverdale 
and  others,  the  learned  Catholics  universally  exclaimed  that  the 
Register  was  a  forgery,  unheard  of  till  that  date,  and  asserted, 
among  other  arguments,  that,  admitting  it  to  be  true,  it  was  of 
no  avail,  as  the  pretended  con^ecrator  of  Parker,  though  he  had 
sat  in  several  Sees,  had  not  himself  been  consecrated  for  any  of 
them.f  •;**5^f«f*ttl'>stl  s'4'>lrt«  /li«l  **ii  in  mlirmtk  »M  -RT^»hto  \/lafl*io 
These,  however,  are  not  the  only  exceptions  which  Catholic 
divines  have  taken  to  the  ministerial  orders  of  the  church  of 
£ngland.  They  have  argued,  in  particular,  against  theybrm  of 
them,  as  theologians  term  it;  in  fact,  according  to  the  ordinal 
of  Edward  VI,  restored  by  Elizabeth,  priests  were  ordained  by 
the  power.  o{ forgiving  sins,'l  without  any  power  of  offering  up 
sacrijice,  in  which  the  essence  of  the  sacerdotium,  or  priesthood 
consists ;  and,  according  to  the  same  ordinal,  bishops  were 
consecrated  without  the  communication  of  any  fresh  power 
whatsoever,  or  even  the  mention  of  episcopacy,  by  a/orm  which 
might  be  used  to  a  child,  when  confirmed  or  baptized.*^   Thii 

•  Collier's  Eccl.  Hist.  Vol.  ii.  p.  135.  •'  * 
t  Richardson,  in  his  notes  on  Godwin's  Commentary,  is  forced  to  confess  M 

follows:  "  Dies consecrationis  ejus  (Barlow)  nondum  apparet."  p.  642. 

X  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost :  whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  forgiven; 
and  whosd  sins  thou  dost  retain,  they  are  retaineci.  And  he  thou  a  faithful  dis- 
penser of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  his  Holy  Sacraments."  Bishop  Sparrow's 
Collection,  p.  158. 

♦  "  Take  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  remember  Inat  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God, 
which  i8  in  thee  by  the  imposition  of  hands." — Ibid.  p.  104.       -■  ■  -  ^ ^.^^.  ■,. 


183 


LiUet  XXIX. 


was  agreeable  to  the  maxims  of  the  principal  author  of  that 
CHrdinal,  Cranmer,  who  solemnly  decided  that  "  bishops  and 
priests  were  no  two  things,  but  one  and  the  same  office."*  On 
this  subject  our  controvertists  urge,  not  only  the  authority  of  all 
the  Latin  and  Greek  ordinals,  but  also  the  confession  of  the 
above-mentioned  Protestant  divine.  Mason,  who  says,  with  evi- 
dent truth,  **  Not  every  form  of  words  will  serve  for  this  institu~ 
tion  (conveying  orders)  but  such  as  are  significant  of  the  power 
conveyed  by  the  ordcr."f  In  short,  these  objections  were  so 
poweifnlly  urged  by  our  divines.  Dr.  Champney,  J.  Lewgar,  S. 
T.  B.|  and  others,  that  almost  immediately  after  the  last  named 
had  published  his  work  containing  them,  called  Erasius  Senior^ 
namely,  in  1662,  the  convocation,  being  assembled,  it  altered 
the  form  of  ordaining  priests  and  consecrating  bishops,  in  order 
to  obviate  these  objections.*^  But  admitting  that  these  altera- 
tions are  sufiicient  to  obviate  all  the  objections  of  our  divines  to 
the  ordinal,  which  they  are  not,  they  came  above  a  hundred 
years  too  late  for  their  intended  purpose ;  so  that  if  the  priests 
and  bishops  of  Edward's  and  Elizabeth's  reigns  were  invalidly 
ordained  and  consecrated,  so  must  those  of  Charles  ll.'s  reign, 
and  their  successors,  have  been  also. 

However  long  I  have  dwelt  on  this  subject,  it  is  not  yet  ex- 
hausted :  the  case  is,  there  is  the  &ame  necessity  of  an  apostoli- 
cal succession  of  mission  or  authority,  to  execute  the  functions 
of  holy  orders,  as  there  is  of  the  holy  orders  themselves.  This 
mwftbn,  or  authority,  was  imparted  by  Christ  to  his  apostles, 
when  he  said  to  them,  ^s  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  /  also  send 
yofi,  Mat.  XX.  21,  and  of  this  St.  Paul  also  speaks,  where  he 
says  of  the  apostles,  How  can  they  preach  unless  they  are  sent^ 
Rom.  X.  15.  I  believe,  sir,  that  no  regular  Protestant  church, 
or  society,  admits  its  minister,  to  have,  by  their  ordination  or 
appointment,  unlimited  authority  it|  every  place  and  congrega- 
tion: certain  it  is,  from  the  ordinal  and  articles  of  the  establish- 

.'■y:     ■.  .„,^  .-_ 

i'^  Bi^RMt'i  Plist.  of  Reform,  vol.  i.  Record^  b.  iii.  n.  21,  quest.  10.    •  .     v   ' 

t  Ihid.  B.  ii.  c.  16. 

f.  Lewgar  was  thiefrifend  of  Chillingworth,  and  by  him  converted  to  the  Ca- 
tholic faith,  which,  however,  he  refused  to  abandon,  when  the  latter  relapsed 
into  Latitu'iinarianism. 

,  t  The  form  ofordaining  a  priest  was  thus  altered :  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost 
for  the  office  and  work  of  a  priest  in  the  church  of  God,  now  commit|eil  to  thee 
bv  the  imposition  of  our  hands :  Whose  sins  thou  shalt  forf  ive,  they  are  for- 
given," kc. — The  form  of  consecratina^  a  bishop  was  thus  enlarged :  ,*'  Receive 
the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office  and  work  of  a  bishop  in  the  church  of  God,  now 
committed  unto  thee  by  the  imposition  ofour  hands,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  remember,  that  thou  stir  up  the 
grace  of  God,  which  is  in  lhec.'»  ,^^-.^^^,^  nj.,;^,^^,,^^,,  ,,^  ^^  ^,^1  m  w  sfsjri » 


Letter  XXIX. 


tm 


ed  church,  dmt  she  confines  the  jurlsdictidn  of  her  ministers  to 
"  the  congregation  to  which  they  shall  be  appointed."*  Con- 
formably to  this,  Dr.  Berkley  teaches,  that  "  a  defect  in  the 
mission  of  the  ministry,  invalidates  the  sacraments,  affects  the 
purity  of  public  worship,  and  therefore  deserves  to  be  investi- 
gated by  every  sincere  Christian."!  To  this  archdeacoti 
Daubeny  adds,  that  "  Regular  mission  only  subsists  iii  the 
churches  which  have  preserved  apostolical  succession."  I 
moreover  believe  that  in  all  Protestant  societies  the  ministers 
are  persuaded  that  the  authority  by  which  they  preach  and  per 
form  their  functions  is,  some  how  or  another,  divine.  But,  on 
this  head,  I  must  observe  to  you,  dear  sir,  and  your  society, 
that  there  are  only  two  ways  by  which  divine  mission  or  au- 
thority can  be  proved  or  communicated  j  the  one  ordinary,  the 
other  extraordinary.  The  former  takes  place  when  this  au- 
thority is  transmitted  in  regular  succession  from  those  who  ori- 
ginally received  it  from  God ;  the  other,  when  the  Almighty 
interposes,  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  and  immediately  com- 
missions certain  individuals  to  make  known  his  will  to  men. 
The  latter  mode  evidently  requires  indisputable  miracles  to  at-" 
test  it ;  and  accordingly  Moses  and  our  Saviour  Christ,  whd 
were  sent  in  this  manner,  constantly  appealed  to  the  prodigies 
they  wrought  in  proof  of  thieir  divine  mission.  Hence,  even 
Luther,  when  Muncer,  Storck,  and  their  followers,  the  Ana- 
baptists, spread  their  errors  and  devastations  through  Lower 
Germany,  counselled  the  magistrates  to  put  these  questions  to 
them,  (not  reflecting  that  the  questions  were  as  applicable  to 
himself  as  to  Muncer,)  "  Who  conferred  upon  you  the  office  oi 
preaching?  And  who  commissioned  you  io  preach?  If  they 
answer,  God,  then  let  the  magistrates  say,  prove  this  to  r^  by 
some  evident  miracle  i  for  so  God  makes  known  his  will,  wn  ii 
he  changes  the  institutions,  which  he  had  before  established*"! 
Should  this  advice  of  the  first  reformer  to  the  magistrates  be 
followed  in  this  age  and  country,  what  swarms  of  sermonizers 
and  expounders  of  the  Bible  would  be  reduced  to  silence  !  For, 
on  one  hand,  it  is  notorious,  that  they  are  self-appointed  pro-^ 
phets,  who  run  without  being  sent}  or,  if  they  pretend  to  a 
commission,  they  derive  it  from  other  men,  who  themselves  had 
received  none,  and  who  did  not  so  much  as  claim  any,  by  regu- 
lar succession  from  the  apostles.  Such  was  Luther  himself; 
such  also  were  Zuinglius,  Calvin,  Muncer,  Menno,  Johu  Knoj(| 


•  Article  23.    Form  of  ordering  priests  ard  deacons, 
t  Serm.  at  Conaecr.  of  bishop  Home.  I  Slcidan.  Dc  Stat.  Relig.  I.  t 

Jit/ 


184 


Utter  XXIX. 


H 


I  I'i' 

I 


Ir 


Hi 


George  Fox,  Zinzendorf,  Wesley,  Whitfield,  and  Swedenborg. 
None  of  these  preachers,  as  I  have  signified,  so  much  as  pre- 
tended to  have  received  their  mission  from  Christ  in  the  ordi- 
nary wayy  by  uninterrupted  succession  from  the  apostles.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  were  so  far  from  undertaking  to  work  real 
miracles,  by  way  of  proving  they  have  received  an  extraordi- 
nary mission  from  Go(f,  that,  as  Erasmus  reproached  them,  they 
could  not  so  much  as  cure  a  lame  horse,  in  proof  of  their  divine 
legation. 

Should  your  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  see  this  letter,  he 
will  doubtless  exclaim,  that,  whatever  may  be  the  case  with 
dissenters,  the  church  of  England,  at  least,  has  received  her 
mission  and  authority,  together  with  her  orders,  by  regular 
succession  from  the  apostles,  through  the  Catholic  bishops,  in 
the  ordinary  way.  In  fact,  this  is  plainly  asserted  by  the  bi- 
shop of  Lincoln.*  But  take  notice,  dear  sir,  that  though  we 
were  to  admit  of  an  apostolical  succession  of  orders  in  the  esta- 
blished church,  we  never  could  admit  of  an  apostolical  succes- 
sion of  mission,  jurisdiction,  or  right  to  exercise  those  orders 
in  that  church  :  nor  can  its  clergy,  with  any  consistency,  lay 
the  least  claim  to  it.  For,  first,  if  the  Catholic  church,  diat  is 
to  say,  its  "  Laity  and  clergy,  all  sects  and  degrees,  were 
drowned  in  abominable  idolatry,  most  detested  of  God  and 
danmable  to  man,  for  the  space  of  eight  hundred  years,"  as  the 
Homilies  affirm,f  how  could  she  retain  this  divine  mission  and 
jurisdiction,  all  this  time,  and  employ  them  in  commissioning 
her  clergy  all  this  time  to  preach  up  this  "  detestable  idola- 
try ?"  Again,  was  it  possible  for  the  Catholic  church  to  give 
jurisdiction  and  authority,  for  example,  to  archbishop  Parker, 
and  the  bishops  Jewel  and  Home,  to  preach  against  herself? 
Did  ever  any  insurgents  against  an  established  government,  ex- 
cept the  regicides  in  the  grand  rebellion,  claim  authority  from  that 
very  government  to  fight  against  it,  and  destroy  it  ?  In  a  word,  we 
perfectly  well  know,  from  history,  that  the  first  English  Protest- 
ants did  not  profess,  any  more  than  foreign  Protestants,  to  derive 
any  mission  or  authority  whatsoever  from  the  apostles,  through 
the  existing  Catholic  church.  Those  of  Henry's  reign  preach- 
ed and  ministered  in  defiance  of  all  authority,  ecclesiastical  and 
civil.|  Their  successors  in  the  reign  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth 
claimed  their  whole  right  and  mission  to  preach  and  to  minis* 

•  Elcm.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  400.       T  Against  the  Perils  of  Idolatry,  P.  iU. 

X  Collier's  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  81. 


'?  ,t  .vi^>^  -'v'' 


I. 


Letter  XXIX. 


185 


Jwedenborg. 
luch  as  pre- 
in  the  ordi- 
ostles.    On 

0  work  real 
extraordi- 

1  them,  they 
their  divine 

is  letter,  he 
case  with 
eceived  her 
by  regular 
bishops,  in 
1  by  the  bi- 
though  we 
in  the  esta- 
ical  succes- 
hose  orders 
Istency,  lay 
irch,  that  is 
grees,  were 
f  God  and 
ars,"  as  the 
nission  and 
nmissioning 
table  idola- 
rch  to  give 
op  Parker, 
»st  herself? 
•nment,  ex- 
ty  from  that 
I  a  word,  we 
ish  Protest- 
s,  to  derive 
ss,  through 
gn  preach- 
iastical  and 
1  Elizabeth 
d  to  minis* 

;/  ,01;  U;  • ' 
latTy,P.iU. 


ter  from  the  civil  power  only.*  This  latter  point  Is  demonftra* 
tively  evident  from  the  act  and  the  oath  of  supremacy,  and 
from  the  homage  of  the  archbishops  and  bishops  to  the  said 
Elizabeth,  in  which  the  prelate  elect  "  acknowledges  and  con- 
fesses, that  he  holds  his  bishopric,  as  well  in  spirituaU  as  in 
temporals,  from  her  alone  and  the  crown  royal.**  The  same 
thing  is  clear  from  a  series  of  royal  ordinances  respecting  the 
clergy  in  matters  purely  spiritual,  such  as  the  pronounw^  on 
doctrine^  the  prohibition  of  prophesying^  the  inhibition  of  all 
preachings  the  giving  and  suspending  cf  spiritual  faculties^  ££C. 
Now,  though  I  sincerely  and  cheerfully  ascribe  to  my  sovereign 
all  the  temporal  and  civil  power^  jurisdiction,  rights,  and  au- 
thority, which  the  constitution  and  laws  ascribe  to  him,  I  can- 
not believe  that  Christ  appointed  any  temporal  prince  to  feed 
his  mystical  flocks  or  any  part  of  it,  or  to  exercise  the  power  oj 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  at  his  discretion.  It  was  fore- 
told by  bishop  Fisher  in  Parliament,  that  the  royal  ecclesiasti- 
cal supremacy,  if  once  acknowledged,  might  pass  to  a  child  or 
to  a  woman,f  as,  in  fact,  it  soon  did  to  each  of  them.  It  was 
afterwards  transferred,  with  the  crown  itself,  to  a  foreign  Cal- 
vinist,  and  might  have  been  settled,  by  a  lay  assembly,  on  a 
Mahometan.  All,  however,  that  is  necessary  for  me  here  to 
remark  is,  that  the  acknowledgment  of  a  royal  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  "  in  all  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  things  or 
causes,"!  (as  when  the  question  is,  who  sh^ll  preach,  baptize, 
&c.  and  who  shall  not;  what  is  sound  doctrine,  and  what  is  not,) 
is  decidedly  a  renunciation  of  Christ's  commission  given  to  his 
apostles,  and  preserved  by  their  successors  in  the  Catholic 
apostolic  church.  Hence  it  clearly  appears  that  there  is  and 
can  be  no  apostolical  succession  of  ministry  in  the  established 
church  more  than  in  the  other  congregations  or  societies  of 
Protestants.  All  their  preaching  and  ministering,  in  their 
several  degrees,  is  performed  h)  mere  human  authority.^  On 
the  other  hand,  not  a  sermon  is  preached,  nor  a  child  baptized, 
nor  a  penitent  absolved,  nor  a  priest  ordained,  nor  a  bishop 


');«:("; 


I 


ii . (  t  t . 


*  Archbishop  Abbot  having  incurred  suspension  by  the  canon  law,  for  acci* 
dentally  shootiDg  a  man,  a  royal  commission  was  issued  to  restore  him.  On  ano- 
ther occasion  he  was  suspended  by  the  king  himself,  for  revising  to  license  a 
book.  In  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  bishops  approved  of  prophetying,  as  it  was  called, 
tiie  queen  disapproved  of  it,  and  she  obliged  them  to  condemn  it 

t  See  his  Life  by  Dr.  Bailey :  also  Dodd's  Eccles.  Hist.  vol.  i.  ;      ■  ■  -     -  - 

t  Oath  of  supremacy.  Homage  of  bishops,  &c. 

f)  It  is  curious  to  see  in  queen  Elizabeth's  Injunctions,  and  in  the  37th  Article, 
the  disclaimer  of  her  "  actually  vdnistering  the  Word  and  the  Sacrament."  The 
question  was  not  about  this,  but  about  the  jurisdiction  or  miiaion  of  the  ministnr. 

2  A 


IW 


Lfitter  :^X^. 


i 


emiseerated,  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  Catholic 
church,  without  the  minister  of  such  function  being  able  to  show 
his  authority  from  Christ  for  what  he  does,  in  the  commission 
of  Christ  to  his  apostles :  Ml  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is 
given  to  me  :  Go  therefore,  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them^  Sfc. 
Mat.  xxviii.  19;  and  without  being  able  to  prove  his  claim  to 
that  commission  of  Christ,  by  producing  the  table  of  his  unin- 
terrupted succession  from  the  apostles.  I  will  not  detain  you 
by  entering  into  a  comparison,  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  be- 
tween  a  ministry,  which  officiates  by  divine  authority,  and  others 
which  act  by  mere  human  authority  j  but  shall  conclude  this 
subject  by  putting  it  to  the  good  sense  and  candour  of  your  so- 
ciety, whether,  from  all  that  has  been  said,  it  is  not  as  evident, 
Which,  among  the  diflerent  communions,  is  THE  APOSTOLIC 
CHURCH  we  profess  to  believe  in^  as  which  is  THE  CA- 

THOUG  CHURCH?  if(i{  io.«it'»'(MA'\<>'4teM'*':4-^'>A*^'-i -iit^    ..■• 


loWifba  QPrnmi^fl^^i  J.wgUftU!ini:<\: 


i:d:m  *jiw.!  IL  ,^fp^: 


J.H. 


Uf 


LETTER  XXX. 
Th  JAMES  BROWJ^,  Esq.  ^  sr)  tS^viu 


vHtft 


■  •  IfD  itgifrio  I, ,  n  ol  ^1  f  ■;!  i  i 

^mmm»ho^^i^s^^  LETTER  XXX.    '^^  ^^^^.m  ^^n\u 

|,Ta«  «t  H\\h  It., 

Isid  OJ  iravfu  nni     OBMCTlOm  ANSWERED. 

1,5        Dear  Sir, 

I  FIND  that  your  visiter,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  had  not  left 
you  at  the  latter  end  of  last  week ;  since  it  appears,  by  a  letter 
which  I  have  received  from  him.,  that  he  had  seen  my  two  last 
letters,  addressed  to  you  at  New  Cottage.  He  is  much  dis- 
pleased with  their  contents,  which  I  am  not  surprised  at ;  and 
he  uses  some  harsh  expressions  against  them  and  their  author, 
of  which  I  do  not  complain,  as  he  was  not  a  party  to  the  agree- 
ment entered  into  at  the  beginning  of  our  correspondence,  by 
the  tenor  of  which  I  was  left  at  full  liberty  to  follow  up  my 
arguments  to  whatever  lengths  they  might  conduct  me,  without 
any  person  of  the  society  being  offended  with  me  on  that  ac- 
count. I  shall  pass  over  the  passages  in  the  letter  which  seem 
to  have  been  dictated  by  too  warm  a  feeling,  and  shall  confine 
my  answer  to  those  which  contain  something  like  argument 
Qgajnst  what  I  have  advanced. 


'H  !    'ifU  Uh' 


■'.)'"'.  !*r. 


•'/  Letter  XXX. 


a§^ 


he  Catholic 

able  to  show 

commission 

d  on  earth  is 

ng  theniy  Sfc. 

lis  claim  to 

of  his  unin- 

t  detain  ^ou 

of  view,  be- 

f,  and  others 

Dnclude  this 

of  your  so- 

as  evident, 

•OSTOLIC 

THE  CA- 


.'SU».*J 


I  &c. 

J.M. 

:    \utu  ,t<!M, . 
■  'i-UHUOi\rM 

'US       fS^'ij/ol 

ad  not  leA 
,  by  a  letter 
ny  two  last 
much  dis- 
ied  at ;  and 
leir  author, 
>  the  agree- 
indence,  by 
How  up  my 
ne,  without 
on  that  ac- 
^hicb  seem 
lall  confine 
I  argument 


The  Reverend  gentleman,  then,  objects  against  the  claim  of 
our  pontiffs  to  the  apostolic  succession ;  that  in  different  ages 
this  succession  has  been  interrupted,  by  the  contentions  of  rival 
Popes ;  and  that  the  lives  of  many  of  them  have  been  so  crimi- 
nal, that  according  to  my  own  argument,  as  he  says,  it  is  in- 
credible that  such  pontiffs  should  have  been  able  to  preserve 
and  convey  the  commission  and  authority  given  by  Christ  to 
his  apostles.     I  grant,  sir,  that,  from  the  various  commotions 
and  accidents  to  which  all  sublunary  things  are  subject,  there 
have  been  several  vacancies,  or  interregnums  in  the  Papacy ; 
but  none  of  them  have  been  of  such  a  lengthened  duration  as  to 
prevent  a  moral  continuation  of  the  Popedom,  or  to  hinder  the 
execution  of  the  important  offices  annexed  to  it.     I  grant  also, 
that  there  have  been  rival  Popes  and  unhappy  schisms  in  the 
church,  particularly  one  great  schism,  at  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth and  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century :  still  the  true 
Pope  was  always  clearly  discernible  at  the  times  we  are  speak- 
ing of,  and  in  the  end  was  acknowledged  even  by  liis  oppo- 
nents.   Lastly,  I  grant  that  a  few  of  the  Popes,  perhaps  a  tenth 
part  of  the  whole  number,  swerving  from  the  example  of  the 
rest,  have,  by  their  personal  vices^  disgraced  their  holy  station : 
but  even  these  Popes  always  fulfilled  their  public  duties  to  the 
church  by  maintaining  the  apostolical  doctrine^  moral  as  well  as 
speculative,  the  apostolical  orders,  and  the  apostolical  mission ; 
so  that  their  misconduct  chiefly  injured  their  own  souls,  and  did 
not  essentially  affect  the  church.     But  if  what  the  Homilies 
affirm  were  true,  that  the  whole  church  had  been  "  drowned  in 
idolatry  for  eight  hundred  years,"  she  must  have  taught  and 
commissioned  all  those,  whom  she  ordained  to  teach  this  hor- 
rible apostasy,  which  she  never  could  have  done,  and  at  the 
same  time  retained  Christ's  commission  and  authority  to  teach 
all  nations  the  Gospel.    This  demonstrates  the  inconsistency  of 
those  clergymen  of  the  establishment,  who  accuse  the  Catholic 
church  of  apostasy  and  idolatry,  and  at  the  same  time  boast  of 
having  received,  through  her,  a  spiritual  jurisdiction  and  mmis- 
try  from  Jesus  Christ. 

Your  visiter  next  expatiates,  in  triumphant  strains,  on  the  ex- 
ploded fable  of  Pope  Joan  ;  for  exploded  it  certainly  may  be 
termed,  when  such  men  as  the  Calvinist  minister  Blondel,  and 
the  infidel  Bayle,  have  abandoned  and  refuted  it.  But  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  fable  themselves  sufficiently  refute  it.  Ac- 
cording to  these,  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  an  English 
19* 


il 


*■■'■! 


.  -^  ^Kteiicr  XXX. 


'  looman,  born  at  Mentz,  in  Germany,''^  studied  philosophy  at 

Ath&Mf  where  there  was  no  school  of  philosophy  in  the  ninth 

'  cefitury,  more  than  there  is  now,  and  taught  divinity  at  Rome. 

'  It  is  pretended  that,  being  elected  Pope,  on  the  death  of  beo 

"  IV  in  855,  she  was  delivered  of  a  child,  as  she  was  walking  in 

■a  solemn  procession  near  the  CoUiseum,  and  died  on  the  spot; 

•  and  moreover,  that  a.  statue  of  her  was  there  erected  in  memory 

*of  the   disgraceful  event!     There  have   been    great   debates 

'among  the  learned  concerning  the  first  author  of  this  absurd 

?  tale,  and  concerning  the  interpolations  in  the  copies  of  the  first 

'  chrcHiicles  which  mention  it.f  At  all  events,  it  was  never  heard 

'of  for  more  than  two  hundred  years  after  the  period  in  question  : 

and  in  the  mean  time,  we  are  assured,  Irom  the  genuine  works 

of  contemporary  writers  and  distinguished  prelates,   some  ol 

whom  then  resided  at  Rome,  such  as  Anastasius  the  librarian, 

Lnitprand,  Hincmar,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  Photius  of  C.  P. 

Lupis  Ferrar,  &c.  that  Benedict  III.  was  ranonically  elected 

Pope  in  the  said  year  855,  only  three  days  after  the  death  oi 

Leo  IV,  which  evidently  leaves  no  inter>  al  for  the  pontificate 

of  the  fabulous  Joan. 

F'rom  the  warfare  of  attack,  my  Reverend  antagonist 
'passes  to  that  of  defence,  as  he  terms  it.  In  this  he  heavily 
complains  of  my  not  having  done  justice  to  the  Protestants, 
particularly  in  the  article  oC  foreign  missions.  On  this  head, 
lie  enumerates  the  difi'erent  societies,  existing  in  this  country, 
for  carrying  them  on,  and  the  large  sums  of  money  which  tliey 
annually  raise  for  this  purpose.  The  societies,  I  learn  from 
liim,  are  the  following:  1st,  the  Society  for  promoting  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,  called  the  Bartlet  Building  Society,  which, 
though  strictly  of  the  Establlsliment,  employs  missionaries  in 
India  to  the  number  of  six,  all  Germans,  and  it  should  seem,  all 
Lutherans.  2dly,  There  Is  the  Society  for  propagating  Chris- 
tianity in  the  English  colonies;  but  1  hear  nothing  of  its  do- 
ings. 3dly,  There  is  another  for  the  conversion  of  negro 
slaves,  of  which  I  can  only  say,  ditto.  4thly,  There  Is  another 
for  sending  missionaries  to  Africa  and  the  East,  concerning 
which  we  are  equally  left  in  the  dark.  5thly,  There  is  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  which  sent  out  the  ship  Dufl',  with 
certain  preachers  and  their  wives,  to  Otahelte,  Tongabatoo,  and 
the  Marf|uesaS|  and  published  a  journal  of  Uie  voyage,  by 


fn  ii;. 


•  fta  P»eudo  Marti nus  Polonus,  Arc. 
■\  See  Breviarium  IIi8torico--Chropologico— critkum  Pontif.  Roman,  studio 
R,,  F.  Pagi,  torn.  ii.  p.  72. 


lilosopliy  at 

in  the  ninth 

ty  at  Rome. 

eath  ol'lJeo 
walking  in 

n  the  spot; 

in  memory 
eat   debates 

this  absurd 

of  the  first 
never  heard 
in  question  : 

nine  works 
some  ol 
le  librarian, 
us  of  C.  P. 
illy  elected 
he  death  oi 

pontificate 

antagonist 
he  heavily 
Protestants, 
1  this  head, 
lis  countrj, 
which  they 
learn  from 
ting  Cliris- 
^ty,  which, 
ioiiaries  in 
(1  seorn,  all 
thig  Chris- 
of  its  do- 
of  negro 
is  another 
'oncerning 
>ere  is  the 
Dufl',  with 
batoo,  and 
jyage,  by 


Letter  XXX. 


which  it  appears  that  they  are  strict  Calvinists,  and  Indepen- 
dents. 6thly,  The  Edinburgh  Missionary  Society  fraternizes 
with  the  last  mentioned.  7thly,  There  is  an  Arminian  Mission* 
ary  Society  under  Dr.  Coke,  the  head  of  the  Wesleyan  Method- 
ists. 8thly,  There  is  a  Moravian  Missionary  Society,  which 
appears  more  active  than  any  others,  particularly  at  the  Cape 
and  in  Greenland  and  Surinam.  To  these,  your  visiter  says, 
must  be  added,  the  Hibernian  Society  for  difiusing  Christian 
knowledge  in  Ireland ;  as  also,  and  still  more  particularly,  the 
Bible  Society,  with  all  its  numerous  ramifications.  Of  this 
last  named,  he  speaks  glorious  things,  foretelling  that  it  will,  in 
its  progress,  purify  the  world  from  infidelity  and  wickedness. 

In  answer  to  what  has  been  stated,  I  have  to  mention  several 
marked  diflerences  between  the  Protestant  and  the  Catholic 
missionaries.     The  former  preached  various  discordant  reli- 
gions ;  for  what  religions  can  be  more  opposite  than  the  Calvin- 
istic  and  the  Arminian  ?     And  how  indignant  would  a  church- 
man feel,  if  I  were  to  charge  him  with  the  impiety  and  obscen- 
ity of  Zinzendorf  and  his  Moravians  ?     The  very  preachers  of 
the  same  sect,  on  board  of  the  Dufi',  had  not  agreed  uppn  the 
creed  they  were  to  teach,  when  they  were  within  a  few  days 
sail  of  Otaheite.*     Whereas  the  Catholic  missionaries,  whether 
Italians,  French,  Portuguese,  or  Spaniards,  taught  and  planted 
precisely  the  same  religion  in  the  opposite  extremities  of  the 
globe.     Secondly,  the  envoys  of  those  societies  had  no  com- 
mission or  authority  to  preach,  but  what  they  derived  from  the 
men  and  women,  who  contributed  money  to  pay  for  their  voy- 
ages and  accommodations.     /  have  not  sent  these  prophets^  says 
the  Lord,  yet  they  ran ;  I  have  not  spoken  to  thcm^  yet  they 
prophesied,  Jer.  xxiii.  21.     On  the  other  hand,  the  apostolical 
men,  who,  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  have  converted  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  all  derived  their  mission  and  authority 
from  the  centre  of  the  apostolic  tree,  the  See  of  Peter.    Third- 
ly, I  cannot   but  remark  the  striking  diflerence  between  the 
Protestant  and  the  Catholic  missionaries,  with  respect  to  their 
qualifications  and  method  of  proceeding.     The  former  were, 
for  the  most  part,  mechanics  and  laymen,  of  the  lowest  order, 
without  any  learning  infused  or  acquired,  beyond  what  they 
could  pick  up  from  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible;  they 
were  frequently  incumbered  with  wives  and  children,  and  arm- 


oman.  studio 


•  "  By  the  middle  of  January,  the  Committee  ofeight  (among  the  30  minion- 
arie«)  had  nearly  finished  the  artirlei  of  faith.  Two  of  Uie  number  JiaiautMl, 
tutjavein." — journal  of  the  Duff. 


190 


Letter  XXX. 


e4  with  muskets  and  bayonets,  to  kill  those  whom  they  could 
not  convert.*     Whereas  the  Catholic  missionaries  have  always 
been  priests,  or  ascetics,  trained  to  literature  and  religious  ex- 
ercises, men  of  continency  and  self-denial,  who  have  had  no 
other  defence  than  their  breviary  and  crucifix,  no  other  weapon 
than  the  sword  of  the  spirit^  which  is  the  word  of  God^  Ephes. 
vi.  17.     Fourthly,  I  do  not  find  any  portion  of  that  lively  faith 
and  heroical  constancy,  in  braving   poverty,  torments,   and 
death,  for  the  Gospel,  among  the  few  Protestant  converts,  or 
even  among  their  preachers,  which  have  so  frequently  illustrat- 
ed the  difierent  Catholic  missions.     Indeed,  I  have  not  heard 
of  a  single  martyr  of  any  kind,  in  Asia,  Africa,  or  America, 
who  can  be  considered  as  the  fruit  of  the  above-named  societies, 
or  of  any  other  Protestant  mission  whatsoever.     On  the  other 
hand,  few  are  the  countries  in  which  tiie  Christian  religion  has 
been  planted  by  Catholic  priests,  without  being  watered  with 
some  of  their  own  blood  and  of  that  of  their  converts.     To  say 
nothing  of  the  martyrs  of  a  late  date  in  the  Catholic  missions 
of  Turkey,  Abyssinia,  S:am,  Tonquin,  Cochinchina,  &c.,  there 
has  been  an  almost  continual  persecution  of  the  Catholics  In  the 
empire  of  China,  for  about  a  hundred  years  past,  which,  be- 
sides confessors  of  the  faith,  who  have  endured  various  tor- 
tures, has  produced  a  very  great  number  of  martyrs,  native 
Chinese  as  well  as  Europeans ;  laity  as  well  as  priests  and  bi- 
shops.f    Within  these  two  years,!  the  wonderful  apostle  of  the 
great  Peninsula  of  Corea,  to  the  east  of  China,  James  Ly,  with 
as  many  as  one  hundred  of  his  converts,  has  suffered  death 
for  the  faith.     In  the  islands  of  Japan,  the  anti -christian  perse- 
cution, excited  by  the  envy  and  avarice  of  the  Dutch,  raged 
with  a  fury  unexampled  in  the  records  of  Pagan  Rome.     It 
began  with  the  crucifixion  of  twenty-six  martyrs,  most  of  them 
missionaries.   It  then  proceeded  to  other  more  horrible  martyr- 
doms, and  it  concluded  with  putting  to  death  as  many  as  eleven 


*  Th9  eighteen  preachers  who  remained  at  Otahei(e  "  took  up  arma  by  tray 
•^  prteaution."— Ibid.  It  appearti,  from  subsequent  accounts,  that  the  preachen 
nade  use  of  their  arms,  to  protect  their  wives  from  the  men  whom  they  came  to 
convert.  Of  the  nine  preachers  destined  for  Tongabatoo,  six  were  for  carrying 
Are  arms  on  shore,  and  three  against  it. — Journal. 

t  Hist,  de  TEglise  par  Berault  Bercastel,  torn.  22,  23.  Butler's  Lives  of  the 
Saints,  Feb.  5.    Mem.  Eccles.  pour  le  18  Si^c. 

X  Namely,  in  1801.  While  this  work  is  in  the  press,  we  receive  an  account 
of  the  martyrdom  of  Mgr.  Dufre«se,  bishop  of  Tabraca,  and  Vicar  apostolic  of 
Sutchuen,  in  China,  who  was  beheaded  there  Sept.  14,  1815,  and  of  F.  J.  de 
Frior,  missionary  in  Chiensi.  who,  after  various  torments,  was  strangled,  Feb. 
13,  l«ltf. 


LetUr  XXX, 


191 


they  could 
ave  always 
iligious  ex- 
ve  had  no 
ler  weapon 
odf  Ephes. 
lively  faith 
aents,  and 
onverts,  or 
y  illustrat- 
;  not  heard 
r  America, 
d  societies, 
n  the  other 
eligion  has 
itercd  with 
5.  To  say 
ic  missions 
&c.,  there 
olics  in  the 
which,  be- 
arious  tor- 
yrs,  native 
sts  and  bi- 
ostle  of  the 
js  Ly,  with 
sred  death 
itian  perse- 
Itch,  raged 
Rome.  It 
3st  of  them 
)le  martyr- 
y  as  eleven 


armi  hy  way 
the  preachen 
they  came  to 
)  for  carrying 

B  Liveiof  the 

'6  an  account 
If  apofitolic  of 
d  of  F.  J.  (le 
rangled,  Feb. 


hundred  thousand  Chr'  'ans.*  Nor  were  those  numerous  and 
splendid  victories  oi  ^c  Gospel  in  the  provinces  of  South 
America  achieved  witkiout^torrents  of  Catholic  blood.  Many 
of  the  first  preachers  were'!^laughtered  by  the  savages  to  whom 
they  announced  the  Gospel,  and  not  unfrequently  devoured  by 
them,  as  was  the  case  with  the  first  bishop  of  Brazil.  In  the 
last  place,  the  Protestant  missions  have  never  been  attended 
with  any  great  success.  Those  heretofore  carried  on  by  the 
Dutch,  French,  and  American  Calvinists,  seemed  to  have  been 
mor^evelled  at  the  destruction  of  the  Catholic  missions,  than 
at  the  conversion  of  the  Pagans.f  In  later  times,  the  zealous 
Wesley  went  on  a  mission  to  convert  the  savages  of  Georgia, 
but  returned  without  making  one  proselyte.  His  companion 
Whitfield  afterwards  went  to  the  same  country  on  the  same  er- 
rand, but  returned  without  any  greater  success.  Of  the  mis- 
sionaries who  went  out  in  the  Duff,  those  who  were  left  at  the 
Friendly  Islands  and  the  Marquesas  abandoned  their  posts  in 
despair,  as  did  eleven  of  the  eighteen  left  at  Otaheite.  The 
remaining  seven  had  not,  in  the  course  of  six  years,  baptized  a 
single  Islander.  In  the  mean  time,the  depravity  of  the  natives 
in  killing  their  infants  and  other  abominations  increased  so  fast, 
as  to  threaten  their  total  extinction.  In  the  Bengal  govern- 
ment, extending  over  from  thirty  to  forty  millions  of  people, 
with  all  its  influence  and  encouragement,  not  more  than  eighty 
converts  have  been  made  by  the  Protestant  missionaries  in 
seven  years,  and  those  were  almost  all  Chandalas  or  outcasts 
from  the  Hindoo  religion,  who  were  glad  to  get  a  pittance  for 
their  support,^  "  for  the  perseverance  of  several  of  whom," 


..1,1,  '.., ,  (.  ,.•-,.,. , 


I  Jjn 


..■;li;v(; 


•  Berault  Bercastel  says  two  Riillions,  torn.  20. 

t  It  is  generally  known,  and  not  denied  by  Mosheim  himself,  that  the  exter- 
mination of  the  flourishing  missions  in  Japan  is  to  be  ascribed  to  thr  Dutch. 
When  they  became  masters  of  the  Portuguese  settlements  in  India,  they  endea- 
voured, by  persecution  as  well  as  by  other  means,  to  make  the  Christian  native! 
abandon  the  Catholif  religion  to  which  St.  Xavier  and  his  companions  had  con- 
verted them.  The  Calvinist  preachers  having  failed  in  their  attempt  to  prose- 
lyte  the  Brazilians,  it  happened  that  one  of  their  party,  James  Sourie,  took  a 
merchant  vessel  at  sea  with  forty  Jesait  mippionaries,  under  F.  Azevedo,  on 
board  of  it,  bound  to  Brazil,  when,  in  hatred  to  them  and  their  destination,  he 
put  them  all  to  death.  The  year  following,  F.  Diaz,  with  eleven  companions, 
bound  on  the  same  mission,  and  fulling  into  the  hands  of  the  Ciilvinists,  met  with 
the  same  fate.  Incredible  pains  were  taken  by  the  ministers  of  New  England 
to  induce  the  Hunons,  Iroquois,  and  other  converted  savages,  to  abandon  the  Ca- 
tholic religion,  when  the  latter  answered  them :  "  You  never  preached  the 
word  to  us  while  we  were  Pagans ;  and  now  tliat  we  are  Christians,  you  try  to 
deprive  us  of  it." 

t  Extract  of  a  Speech  of  C.  Marsh,  Esq.  in  a  committee  of  the  H.  of  C,  July  1, 
1815.    See  also  Mujor  Waring's  remarks  on  Oxford  Sermons. 


:f 


i^ 


Letter  XXX, 


l!|! 


.'I 


I.* 


their  instructors  say,  "  thej  tremble."*  How  different  a  scene 
do  the  Catholic  missions  present!  To  say  nothing  of  ancient 
Christendom,  all  the  kingdoms  and  states  of  which  were  re- 
claimed from  Paganism  and  converted  to  Christianity  by  Ca- 
tholic preachers,  and  not  one  of  them  by  preachers  of  any  other 
ll§  description :  what  extensive  and  populous  islands,  provinces  and 

states,  were  wholly,  or  in  a  great  part  reclaimed  from  idolatry, 
in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  soon  after  Luther's  revolt,  by  Ca- 
tholic missionaries !     But  to  come  still  nearer  to  our  own  time : 
F.  Bouchet,  alone,  in  the  course  of  his  twelve  years  labours  in 
Madura,  instructed   and  baptized  twenty   thousand  Indians, 
while  F.  Britto,  within  fifteen  months  only,  converted  and  re- 
generated eight  thousand,  when  he  sealed  his  mission  with  his 
blood.     By  the  latest  returns  which  I  have  seen  from  the  East- 
em  missionaries  to  the  directors  of  the  French  Missions  Etran- 
geres,  it  appears  that  in  the  western  district  of  Tonquin,  during 
the  five  years  preceding  the  beginning  of  this  century,  four 
thousand  one  hundred  and  one  adults,  and  twenty-six  thousfind 
nine  nundred  and  fifteen  children,  were  received  into  the  chuh:h 
by  baptism,  and  that  in  the  lower  part  of  Cochinchina,  nine 
hundred  grown  persons  had  been  baptized  in  the  course  of  two 
years,  besides  vast  numbers  of  children.     The  empire  of  China 
contains  six  bishops  and  some  hundreds  of  Catholic  priests.  In 
a  single  province  of  it,  Sutchuen,  during  the  year  1796,  fifteen 
hundred  adults  were  baptized,  and  two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  Catechumens  were  received  for  instruction. 
By  letters  of  a  later  date  from  the  above  mentioned  martyr 
Dufresse,  bishop  of  Tabraca  and  Vic.  Ap.  of  Sutchuen,  it  ai)- 
pears,  that  during  the  year  1810,  in  spite  of  a  severe  persecu- 
tion, nine  hundred  and  sixty-five  adults  were  baptized,  and  du- 
ring 1814,  though  the  persecution  increased,  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-nine,  without  reckoning  infants,  received  baptism.     Bi- 
shop Lamote,  Vic.  Ap.  of  Fokien,  testifies  that,  in  his  district, 
during  the  year  1810,  ten  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  infants,  and  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
grown  persons,  were  baptized,  and  two  thousand  six  hundred 
and    seventy-four   Catechumens   admitted.     From   this   short 
specimen,  I  trust,  dear  sir,  it  will  appear  manifest  to  you,  on 
which  Christian  society  God  bestows  his  grace  to  execute  the 
work  of  the  apostles,a8  well  as  to  preserve  their  doctrine,  their 
orders  and  their  mission. 

As  to  the  wonderful  eflects  which  your  visiter  expects  from 
.1  i 

*  Transact  of  Prot.  Mim.  Quoted  in  Edinb.  Review,  April,  1808. 


I 


Ccrter  XXX. 


19^ 


;nt  a  scene 
of  ancient 
I  were  re- 
ly by  Ca- 
r  any  other 
vinces  and 
n  idolatry, 
)lt,  by  Ca- 
own  time : 
labours  in 
1  Indians, 
ed  and  re- 
)n  with  his 
a  the  East- 
ons  Etran- 
lin,  during 
itury,  four 
X  thousand 
the  chuirch 
:hina,  nine 
urse  of  two 
e  of  China 
priests.  In 
796,  fifteen 
ve  hundred 
instruction, 
led  martyr 
uen,  it  ap- 
re  persecu- 
;d,  and  du- 
jndred  and 
itism.  Bi- 
his  district, 
md  eighty- 
renty-seven 
ix  hundred 
this  short 
to  you,  on 
execute  the 
irinef  their 

:pects  from 

,809. 


the  BU)le  Society f  and  the  three  score  and  three  translations  into 
foreign  tongues  of  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  in  the 
conversion  of  the  Pagan  world,  I  beg  leave  to  ask  him,  who  is 
to  vouch  to  the  Tartars,  Turks,  and  idolaters,  that  the  Testa- 
ments and  Bibles,  which  the  society  is  pouring  in  upon  them, 
were  inspired  by  the  Creator  ?  Who  is  to  answer  for  these 
translations,  made  by  officers,  merchants,  and  merchants'  clerks, 
being  accurate  and  faithful  f  Who  is  to  teach  these  barbarians 
to  read,  and,  after  that,  to  make  any  thing  like  a  connected 
sense  of  the  mysterious  volumes  P  Does  Mr.  C.  really  tliink 
that  an  inhabitant  of  Otaheite,  when  he  is  enabled  to  read  the 
Bible,  will  extract  the  sense  of  the  39  Articles  or  of  any  other 
Christian  system  whatever  from  it  ?  In  short,  has  the  Bible 
Society,  or  any  of  the  other  Protestant  societies,  converted  a 
single  Pagan  or  Mahometan  by  the  bare  text  of  Scripture  ? 
When  such  a  convert  can  be  produced,  it  will  be  time  enough 
for  me  to  propose  to  him  those  further  gravelling  questions 
«vhich  result  from  my  observations  on  the  Sacred  Text  in  a 
former  letter  to  you.  In  the  mean  time  let  your  visiter  rest 
assured,  that  the  Catholic  church  will  proceed  in  the  old  and 
successful  manner,  by  which  she  has  converted  all  the  Christian 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  the  same,  which  Christ  deli- 
vered to  his  apostles  and  their  successors  :  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  Mark.  xvi.  16. 
On  the  other  hand,  how  illusory  the  gentleman's  hopes  are, 
that  the  depravity  of  this  age  and  country  will  be  reformed  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Bible  Society,  has  been  victoriously  proved 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hook,  who,  with  other  clear  sighted  church- 
men, evidently  sees  thai  the  grand  principle  of  Protestantism, 
strictly  reduced  to  practice,  would  undermine  their  establish- 
ment. One  of  his  brethren,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gisborne,  had  pub- 
licly boasted,  that  in  proportion  to  the  opposition,  which  the 
Bible  Society  had  met  with,  its  annual  income  had  increased, 
till  it  reached  near  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  in  a  year : 
Dr.  Hook,  in  return,  showed,  by  lists  of  the  convictions  of 
criminals  during  the  first  seven  years  of  the  society's  existence, 
that  the  wickedness  of  the  country,  instead  of  being  diminished, 
nad  almost  been  doubled  !^     Since  that  period  up  to  the  pre- 

*  List  of  capital  convictions,  in  London  and  Middlesex,  in  the  following  yean^ 
from  Dr.  Hook's  Charge,  and  the  London  Chronicle  :— 


In  the  year  1808 

1809 
863 

1810 

884 

1811 

1812 

1813  1814 
1012  1027 

1815 
2299 

1616 
2592 

1817 

Convictions  1  728 

872  998 

3177 

o 

B 

tHi 


Letter  XXX. 


;■*• 


■i 


sent  year,  it  has  increased  three-fold  and  four-ibld,  compared 
with  its  state  before  the  society  began.  >  >  r  nr 

(ai't'jl:!  ■^riiK4i>'t'><'nr ':««.' .^:Mrtil>fiffi  ,^'f*'.»ijf»  v^ilaLftia  *iu>{|ijf^/i- 
atMjhsiJTwci  ^i.^,|uh/:  •     POSTSCRIPT,    i  h^iii  9imm^itu 

I  ItAVte  ri6w,  dear  sir,  completed  the  second  task  wfalbh  I  un* 
dertook,  and  therefore  proceed  to  sum  up  my  evidence.  Hav- 
ing then  proved  in  my  twelve  former  letters,  the  rough  copies 
of  which  I  have  preserved,  that  the  two  alleged  rules  of  faith, 
that  of  private  inspiration  and  that  of  private  interpretation  oj 
Scripture,  are  equally  fallacious,  and  that  there  is  no  certain 
way  of  coming  to  the  truth  of  divine  revelation  but  by  hearing 
that  church  which  Christ  built  on  a  rock  and  promised  to  abide 
with  forever  ;  I  engaged,  in  this  my  second  series  of  letters,  to 
demonstrate,  which,  among  the  diflerent  societies  of  Christians, 
is  the  church  that  Christ  founded  and  still  protects.  For  this 
purpose  I  have  had  recourse  to  the  principal  characters  or  marks 
of  Chrisfs  church,  as  they  are  pointed  out  in  Scripture  and 
formally  acknowledged  by  Protestants  of  nearly  all  descrip-> 
tions,  no  less  than  by  Catholics,  in  their  articles  and  in  those 
creeds,"  which  form  part  of  their  private  prayers  and  public 
liturgy,  namely,  unity,  sanctity,  Catholicity  and  apostolicity.  In 
fact,  this  is  what  every  one  acknowledges  who  says  in  the  apos- 
tles' Creed,  1  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic  church;  and,  in  the 
Nicene  Creed,*  /  believe  one  Catholic  and  apostolic  church. 
Treating  of  the  first  mark  of  the  true  church,  I  proved  from 
natural  reason,  Scripture,  and  tradition,  that  unity  is  essentia! 
to  her ;  I  then  showed  that  there  is  no  union  or  principle  of 
union  among  the  diflerent  sects  of  Protestants,  except  their  com- 
mon protestation  against  their  mother  church,  and  that  the 
church  of  England,  in  particular,  is  divided  against  itself  in 
such  manner,  that  one  of  its  most  learned  prelates  has  declared 
himself  afraid  to  say,  what  is  its  doctrine.     On  the  other  hand, 

i'JlU^Ji    III 


i  \t  im\rit    i<  ...  ■ 


Capital  eoriTicttona  In  England  and  Wales,  during  the  former  seven  years,  from 
^r.  Hook's  Charge : — 


2723  3238  3158  3163  3913  4422'4025 


l'\    u'-J<...\(      ..If 


N.  B.  To  the  convictions,  during  the  Uiree  last  years,  in  London  and  Middlesex, 
U«  added  thoac  of  Surry,  in  Iho  London  Chronicle,  March  9,  1818. 
♦  Sec  the  Communion  Service,  in  Com.  Prayer. 


I,  compared 

I  Uitfi  «)«■!; f( 

which  I  un« 

nee.  Hav- 
Dugh  copies 

es  of  faith, 
pretatton  oj 
5  no  certain 

bv  hearing' 
sed  to  abide 
>f  letters,  to 

Christians, 
For  tiiis 
irs  or  marks 
ripture  and 
all  descrip- 
nd  in  those 

and  public 
stolicity.  In 
in  the  apos- 
aiid,  in  the 
oUc  church. 
)roved  from 

is  essential 
irinriple  of 
t  their  com- 
id  that  the 
ist  itself  ill 
as  declared 
3ther  hand, 

en  yean,  from 

iv^U  .-n  in 
nd  Middlesex, 


Letter  XXX. 


195 


I  have  shown  that  the  Catholic  church,  spread  as  she  is  over 
the  whole  earth,  is  one  and  the  same  in  her  doctrinej  in  her  litur- 
giff  and  in  her  government ;  and,  though  I  detest  religious  per- 
secution, I  have,  in  defiance  of  ridicule  and  clamour,  vindicated 
her  unchangeable  doctrine,  and  the  plain  dictate  of  reason,  as 
to  the  indispensable  obligation  of  believing  what  God  teaches } 
in  other  words,  of  a  right  faith  :  I  have  even  proved  that  her 
adherence  to  this  tenet  is  a  proof  both  of  the  truth  and  the 
charity  of  the  Catholic  church.  On  the  subject  ofholinesSf  I 
have  made  it  clear  that  the  pretended  Reformation  every  where 
originated  in  the  pernicious  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  alone, 
without  good  works;  and  that  the  Catholic  church  has  ever 
taught  the  necessity  of  them  both ;  likewise  that  she  possesses 
many  peculiar  msans  of  sanctity ^  to  which  modern  sects  do  not 
make  a  pretension,  likewise  that  she  has,  in  every  age,  pro- 
duced the  genuine  fruits  of  sanctity  ;  while  the  fruits  of  Pro- 
tr'stantlsm  have  been  of  quite  an  opposite  nature:  finally,  that 
God  himself  has  bore  witness  to  the  sanctity  of  the  Catholic 
churchf  by  undeniable  miracles^  with  which  he  has  illustrated 
her  in  every  age.  It  did  not  require  much  pains  to  prove  that 
the  Catholic  church  possesses,  exclusively,  the  name  of  CA- 
THOLIC, and  not  much  more  to  demonstrate  that  she  alone 
has  the  qualities  signified  by  that  name.  That  the  Catholic 
church  is  also  APOSTOLICAL,  by  descending  in  a  right  line 
from  the  apostles  of  Christ,  is  as  evident  as  that  she  is  Catholic. 
However,  to  illustrate  this  matter,  I  have  sketched  out  a  genea- 
logical, or,  as  I  call  it,  the  apostolical  trce^  which,  with  the 
help  of  a  note  subjoined,  shows  the  uninterrupted  succession  of 
the  Catholic  church  in  her  chief  pontiffs  and  other  illustrious 
prelates,  doctors,  and  renowned  saints,  from  the  apostles  of 
Christ,  during  eighteen  centuries,  to  the  present  period;  to- 
gether with  the  continuation  in  her  of  the  apostolical  work  of 
converting  nations  and  people.  It  shows  also  a  series  of  un- 
happy heretics  and  schismatics,  of  different  times  and  countries, 
who,  refusing  to  hear  her  inspired  voice  and  to  obey  her  divine 
authority,  have  been  separated  from  her  communion. and  have 
withered  away,  like  branches,  cut  off  from  a  vine,  which  are  fit 
for  no  human  use.  Ezek.  xv.  Finally,  I  have  shown  the  ne- 
cessity of  an  uninterrupted  succession  from  the  apostles,  of  holy 
orders  and  divine  mission,  to  constitute  an  apostolical  church, 
and  have  proved  that  these,  or  at  least  the  latter  of  them,  can 
only  be  found  in  the  holy  Catholic  church.  Having  demon- 
strated all  this  in  the  foregoing  letters,  I  am  justified,  dear  sir, 
in  aflirniing  that  the  motives  of  credibility ,  in  favour  of  the  Chris- 
80 


I' 


id6 


Letier  XXX, 


tian  religion,  in  generalj  are  not  one  whit  morie  clear  and  cer. 
tain  than  those  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  particuJar 
But  without  inquiring  into  the  degree  of  evidence  attending  the 
latter  motives,  it  is  enough  for  my  present  purpose  that  they 
hre  sufficiently  evident  to  influence  the  conduct  of  dispassionate 
and  reasonable  persons,  who  are  acquainted  with  them,  and  who 
are  really  in  earnest  to  save  their  souls.     Now,  in  proof,  that 
these  motives  are  at  least  so  far  clear,  I  may  again  appeal  to 
the  conduct  of  Catholics  on  a  death  bed,  who,  in  that  awful 
situation,  never  wish  to  die  in  any  religion  but  their  own :  1 
may  also  appeal  to  the  conduct  of  so  many  Protestants  in  the 
same  situation,  who  seek  to  reconcile  themselves  to  the  Catholic 
church.     Let  us,  one  and  all,  my  dear  sir,  as  far  as  is  in  our 
power,  adopt  these  sentiments  in  every  respect  now,  which  we 
shall  entertain,  when  the  transitory  scene  of  this  world  is  closing 
to  our  sight,  and  during  the  countless  ages  of  eternity.     O  the 
length,  the  breadth,  and  the  depth  of  the  abyss  of  ETERNI- 
TY !     "  JVo  security"  says  a  holy  man,  "  can  be  too  great 
Vfhere  eternity  is  at  stake."* 

\inirn  um  hih  i\     I  am,  &c.  .<: 
f^MJ^^ff  ismmi  mil  jYf'>'/fi;«|T)r^^'^i».jws.K?0([  flnutl-  J.  M. 

,  mUi^k  tmii  Hifm-finm-jlj  «t  ot«M  jirjufu  ibit  hun  JJUiOn 
!ii':it^'^'''^  ^'"NdbntiB magna  securitasubiperiditaturEterDitai."     {,   .,. 

.nimhsj  H'idk  imb  sr  iiHim^n  -I  ,mtil  )  '\o  >)rj/oqn  -nh  trro 


q.;-. 


"McJ.nff  ;^!!;j>iv/if. 


.;iir: -HT^b  .^^»^lM{|f^M.    r,,.,,h'tf  ^^  iji>-.>n«tf  'Jt  ••■;   :,f!»  if-   (, 


.<"■<*, 


-  i>" 


•\^^^ 


(111.)  i,M 


(ar  and  cet^ 
I  particular 
ttending  the 
56  that  they 
ispassionate 
m,  and  who 

proof,  that 
n  appeal  to 

that  awful 
eir  own :  I 
stants  in  the 
he  Catholic 
IS  is  in  our 
i^,  which  we 
Id  is  closing 
ty.  O  the 
ETERNI- 
e  too  great 

OCCr  **i  1 

J.M. 

■  ■ '  d:vitit 
i«  ^>jlr  tau 
f  iVrfmro '. 


f'( 


!>«::> 


'^1 


>    r->U:l'y. 


u 


iltli 


'i'lif    Vr.J'E*: 

■•■ri'S')"!  .f.wHv 


THE  END 


aei 


RELIGIOUS  CONTROVERSY.  ^^> 


if    Vi|,    •/•(!.) 


^  1 


.1  1  t\ili:-'.    !    '• 


PART  IILu. 


>  I'.t. 


«:  l/!rj«il}./.; 


'fj! 


fj-.i: 


X)N4 

FromMMES  BROWN,  Esq.  to  the  Rev.  J.M.  .'«>«» 
D.D.  F.S.A.  >»««M 


LETTER  XXXI. 


'  ,V  »i ' 


*-) 


.su:f 


mny  ^n^  .,!,>'..;,,   INTRODUCTION.' 


^^-■iiUiih  I   .hood 


'  (i-fyl  'yf,:ii  minim 

Reverend  Sir,    ■'"''  '    ■''    •  :•''■"■  ."■ "  ■ '--  '  "   '-    ,' 
The  whole  of  your  letters  have  again  been  read  over  in  onr 
society ;  and  they  have  produced  important  though  diversified 
ejQfects  on  the  minds  of  its  several  members.     For  my  own  part, 
I  am  free  to  own,  that,  as  your  former  letters  convinced  me  in 
the  truth  of  your  rule  of  faith,  namely  the  entire  Word  of  God, 
and  of  the  right  of  the  true  church  to  expound  it  in  all  questions, 
concerning  its  meaning ;  so  your  subsequent  letters  have  satis- 
fied me  that  the  characters  or  marks  of  the  true  church,  as  they 
are  laid  down  in  our  common  creeds,  are  clearly  visible  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  and  not  in  the  collection  of  Protest- 
ant churches,  nor  in  any  one  of  them.     This  impression  was,  at 
first,  so  strong  upon  my  mind  that  I  could  have  answered  you 
nearly  in  the  words  of  king  Agrippa,  to  St.  Paul :  almost  thou 
persuadest  me  to  become  a  Catholic,  Acts  xxvi.  28.     The  same 
appear  to  be  the  sentiments  of  several  of  my  friends  :  but  when, 
on  comparing  our  notes   together,  we  considered  the  heavy 
charges,    particularly    of  superstition    and   idolatry,   brought 
against  your  church  by  our  eminent  divines,  and  especially  by 
the  bishop  of  London  (Dr.  Porteus,)  and  never,  that  we  have 
heard  of,  refuted  or  denied,  we  cannot  but  tread  back  the  steps 
we  have  taken  towards  you,  or  rather  stand  still,  where  we  are. 


196 


Letter  XXX/. 


a 


Ik!   ' 


I 


in  suspense,  till  we  hear  what  apswer  you  will  make  to  them :  I 
speak  of  those  contained  in  the  bishop's  well  known  treatise 
czWediA  Brief  Confutation  of  the  Errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
With  respect  to  certaipi  other  members  of  our  society,  I  am 
sorry  to  be  obliged  to  say,  that,  on  this  particular  subject,  I 
mean  the  arguments  in  favour  of  your  religion,  they  do  not 
manifest  the  candour  and  good  sense,  which  are  natural  to 
them,  and  which  they  show  on  every  other  subject.    They  pro- 
nounce, with  confidence  and  vehemence,  that  Dr.  Porteus's 
charges  are  all  true,  and  that  you  cannot  make  any  rational  an- 
swer to  them ;  at  the  same  time,  that  several  of  these  gentle- 
men, tp  my  knowledge,  are  very  little  acquainted  with  the  sub- 
stance of  them.     In  short,  they  are  apt  to  load  your  religion 
and  the  professors  of  it,  with  epithets  and  imputations  too  gross 
and  injurious  for  me  to  repeat,  convinced  as  I  am  of  their  false- 
hood.  I  shall  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  some  of  these  impu- 
tations have  been  transmitted  to  you  by  the  persons  in  question, 
as  I  have  declined  making  my  letters  the  vehicle  of  them ;  it  is 
a  justice,  however,  which  I  owe  them,  to  assure  you,  Rev.  sir, 
that  it  is  only  since  they  have  understood  the  inference  of  your 
arguments  to  be  such  as  to  imply  an  obligation  on  them  of  re- 
nouncing their  own  respective  religions,  and  embracing  yours, 
thvX  they  have  been  so  unreasonable  and  violent.     Till  this  pe- 
riod they  appeared  to  be  nearly  as  liberal  and  charitable  with 
respect  to  your  communion  as  to  any  other. 
->;!!:-  'Xi.-A  ;.-j >:!-/!  t ,  :*;;.     \    .   lam.  Rev.  Sir,  he. 

/:  ,  ,    !     .,  JAMES  BROWN. 


•Ml?    Ill  "\-\,'i^    fl  "■■,'■)  -i  ..■    ,   ',.  -,.■, 

i;^'/   '-         '''  n:  ;  ;,  ,,.,.,    J    .      ;,   : 

SiM-V^   .'■•^,n  w,    :  ^i;    '  !         ,   .  •   _  ,■,. 

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of  Rome. 
ety,  I  am 
subject,  I 
jy  do  not 
latural  to 
They  pro- 
Porteus's 
tional  an- 
se  gentle- 
the  sub- 
religion 
too  gross 
leir  false- 
ese  impu- 
question, 
lem;  it  is 
Rev.  sir, 
e  of  your 
im  of  re- 
tig  yours, 
1  this  pe- 
:able  with 

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ftV  TBE  CHJiRGES  ^GAIJfST  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCB, 


LETTER  XXXII. 
To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq. 


f>,t: 


■..-\-. 


hll.Vsi   <•  ii-«',  (  ' 


Dear  Sir, 
I  SHOULD  be  guilty  of  deception  were  I  to  disguise  the  satis- 
faction I  derive  from  your  and  your  friends,  near  approach  to  the 
house  of  unity  and  peace,  as  St.  Cyprian  calls  the  Catholic 
church:  for  such  I  must  judge  your  situation  to  be  from  the 
tenour  of  your  last  letter,  by  which  it  seems  to  me,  that  your 
entire  reconciliation  with  this  church  depends  on  my  refuting 
Bp.  Porteus's  objections  against  it :  and  yet,  dear  sir,  if  I  were 
to  insist  on  the  strict  rules  of  reasoning,  I  might  take  occasion 
of  complaining  of  you  from  the  very  concessions  which  afford 
me  so  much  pleasure.     In  fact,  if  you  admit  that  the  church  of 
God,  is,  by  his  appointment,  the  interpreter  of  the  entire  Word 
of  God,  you  ought  to  pay  attention  to  her  doctrine  on  every 
point  of  it,  and  not  to  the  suggestions  of  Dr.  Porteus  or  your 
own  fancy  in  opposition  to  it.     Again,  if  you  are  convinced 
that  the  one,  holy,  Catholic  and  apostolical  church  is  the  true 
church  of  God,  you  ought  to  be  persuaded  that  it  is  utterly  im- 
possible she  should  inculcate  idolatry,  superstition,  or  any  other 
wickedness,  and,  of  course,  that  those  who  believe  her  to  be  thu» 
guilty  are  and  must  be  in  a  fatal  error.     I  have  proved  from 
reason,  tradition,  and  holy  Scripture,  that,  as  individual  Chris- 
tians cannot  of  themselves  judge  with  certainty  of  matters  of 
faith,  God  has  therefore  provided  them  with  an  unerring  guide, 
in  his  holy  church  ;  and  hence  that  Catholics,  as  Tertullian  and 
St.  Vincent  of  Lerins  emphatically  pronounce,  cannot  strictly 
and  consistently,  be  required  by  those  who  are  not  Catholics, 
to  vindicate  the  particular  tenets  of  their  belief,  either  from 
Scripture  or  any  other  authority :  it  being  sufficient  for  them  to 
show  that  they  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  true  church  which  all 
Christians  are  bound  to  hear.     Nevertheless,  as  it  is  my  duty, 
after  the  example  of  the  apostle,  to  become  all  things  to  all  men, 
1  Cor.  ix.  22,  and  as  we  Catholics  are  conscious  of  being  able 
to  meet  our  opponents  on  their  own  ground,  as  well  as  on  ours, 
I  am  willing,  dear  sir,  for  your  and  your  friends'  satisfaction,  to 
enter  on  a  brief  discussion  of  the  leading  points  of  controversy 
which  are  agitated  between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants, 
particularly  those  of  the  church  of  England.    I  must,  however- 
20* 


200 


Letter  XXXIL 


II 


'i  »■' 


if! 


previously  stipulate  with  you  for  the  following  conditions, 
which  I  trust  you  will  find  perfectly  reasonable.  i., 

Ist.  I  require  that  Catholics  should  be  permitted  to  lay  doton 
their  own  principles  of  belief  and  practice,  and,  of  course,  to 
distinguish  between  their  articles  of  faith  in  which  they  must  all 
agree,  and  mere  scholastic  opinions,  of  which  every  individual 
may  judge  for  himself;  as,  likewise,  between  the  authorized 
liturgy  and  discipline  of  the  church  and  the  unauthorized  devo- 
tions and  practices  of  particular  persons.  I  insist  upon  this 
preliminary,  because  it  is  the  constant  practice  of  your  contro- 
versialists to  dress  up  a  hideous  figure,  composed  of  their  own 
misrepresentations,  or  else  of  those  undefined  opinions  and  un- 
authorized practices,  which  they  call  Popery;  and  then  to 
amuse  their  readers  or  hearers  with  exposing  the  deformity  of  it 
and  pulling  it  to  pieces ;  and  I  have  the  greater  right  to  insist 
upon  this  preliminary,  because  our  creeds  and  professions  c  f 
faith,  the  acts  of  our  councils  and  our  approved  expositions  and 
Catechisms,  containing  the  principles  of  our  belief  and  practice, 
from  which  no  real  Catholic  in  any  part  of  the  world  can  ever 
depart,  are  before  the  public  and  upon  constant  sale  among 
booksellers. 

2dly.  It  being  a  notorious  fact  that  certain  individual  Chris- 
tians, or  bodies  of  Christians,  have  departed  from  the  faith  and 
communion  of  the  church  of  all  nations,  under  pretence  that 
they  had  authority  for  so  doing,  it  is  necessary  that  their  al- 
leged authority  should  be  express,  and  incontrovertible.  Thus, 
for  example,  if  texts  of  Scripture  are  brought  for  this  purpose, 
•t  is  evidently  necessary  that  such  texts  should  be  clear  in  them- 
selves and  not  contrasted  by  any  other  texts  seemingly  of  an  op- 
posite meaning.  In  like  manner,  when  any  doctrine  or  prac- 
tice appears  to  be  undeniably  sanctioned  by  a  father  of  the 
church,  for  example,  of  the  third  or  the  fourth  century,  without 
an  appearance  of  contradiction  from  any  other  father,  or  eccle- 
siastical writer,  it  is  unreasonable  to  affirm  ir.  t  Iig  or  his  con- 
temporaries were  the  authors  of  it,  as  Prote  fTii  *  > m^ps  are  ' ; 
the  habit  of  affirming.  On  the  contrary,  '..i  ;s  ..atv^ial  to  sup- 
pose that  such  father  has  taken  up  this  with  the  other  points  of 
^]!s  religion  from  his  predecessors,  who  received  them  from  the 
aposv'es.  This  is  the  sentiment  of  that  bright  luminary  St. 
Aagusil.  who  says,  "Whatever  is  found  to  be  held  by  the 
Uiyvt;ti'bal  cburch,  aud  not  to  have  had  its  beginning  in  bishops 


.';;ii- 
ii(! 


Ife  ;' 


ditionsy 

ly  dovm 

urse,  to 

must  all 

dividual 

horized 

d  devo- 

)on  this 

contro- 

eir  own 

and  un- 

then  to 

ity  of  it 

to  insist 

isions  (:i 

ions  and 

^ractic^, 

can  ever 

'.  among 

il  Chris- 
laith  and 
nee  that 
their  al- 
i.  Thus, 
purpose, 
in  them- 
>f  an  op- 
or  prac- 
r  of  the 
without 
3r  eccle- 
his  con- 
's are  *  '■■ 
I  to  sup- 
points  of 
from  the 
aary  St. 
I  by  the 
1  bishops 

'.  ii'f; 
■:   'I  1(1,  . 

I 


\JUuer  ^:^XJL 


301 

and  cotuacils,  must  be  esteemed  a  tradition  from  those  by  whom 
the  church  itself  was  founded."^ 

You  judged  right  in  supposing  that  I  have  received  some  let- 
ters, containing  virulent  and  gross  invectives  against  the  Ca- 
tholic religion,  from  certain  meir  <<  rs  of  your  society.  These 
do  not  surprise  or  hurt  me,  as  the  writers  of  them  have  probably 
not  yet  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  inueli  more  of  this  reli- 
gion than  what  they  could  collect  from  fifth  of  November,  and 
other  sermons  of  the  same  tendency,  and  from  circulated 
pamphlets  expressly  calculated  to  inflame  the  population 
again ^;t  it  and  its  professors ;  but  what  truly  surprises  and  aA 
flK<s  nv.',  jy,  that  so  many  other  personages  in  a  more  elevated 
vaiitv  Oi  1<  t :,  whose  education  and  studies  enable  them  to  form  a 
vTio^'e  just  idea  of  the  religious  and  moral  principles  of  their  an- 
cest.H-s,  benefactors,  and  founders,  m  short  of  their  acknowledg- 
ed fathers  and  saints,  should  combine  to  load  these  fathers  and 
saints  with  calumnies  and  misrepresentations  which  they  must 
know  to  be  utterly  false.  But,  a  bad  cause  must  be  supported 
by  bad  means ;  they  are  unfortunately  implicated  in  a  revolt 
against  the  true  church ;  and  not  having  the  courage  and  >elf- 
denial  to  acknowledge  their  error  and  return  to  her  communion, 
they  endeavour  to  justify  their  conduct  by  interposing  a  black 
and  hideous  mask  before  the  fair  countenance  of  this  true  mo- 
ther, Christ's  spotless  spouse.  This  is  so  far  true,  that  when, 
as  it  often  happens,  a  Protestant  is,  by  dint  of  argument,  forced 
out  of  his  errors  and  prejudices  against  the  true  religion,  if  he 
be  pressed  to  embrace  it,  and  wants  grace  to  do  it,  he  is  sure  to 
fly  back  to  those  very  calumnies  and  misrepresentations  which 
he  had  before  renounced.  The  fact  is,  he  must  fight  with  these, 
or  yield  himself  unarmed  to  his  Catholic  opponent. 

That  you  and  your  friends  may  not  think  me,  dear  sir,  to 
have  complained  without  just  cause  of  the  publications  and  ser- 
mons of  the  respectable  characters  I  have  alluded  to,  I  must  in- 
form you  that  1  have  now  lying  before  me  a  volume  called 
ixood  Advice  to  the  Pulpits,  consisting  of  the  foulest  and  most 
malignant  falsehoods  against  the  Catholic  religion  and  its  pro- 
fessors, which  tongue  or  pen  can  express,  or  the  most  enve- 
nomed heart  conceive.  It  was  collected  from  the  sermons  and 
treatises  of  prelates  and  dignitaries,  by  that  able  and  faithful 
writer,  the  Rev.  John  Gother,  soon  after  the  gall  of  calumnious 
Ink  had  been  mixed  up  with  the  blood  of  slaughtered  Catholics; 
R  score  of  v«  horn  were  executed  as  traitors  for  a  pretended  plot 

*  Lib.  ii.  De  Bapt.  '  '   "'■■'* 

2  C 


S02 


Letter  XXXII. 


P 


hi 


to  murder  their  friend  and  proselyte,  Charles  II ;  a  plot  which 
was  hatched  by  men  who  themselves  were  soon  after  convicted 
of  a  real  assassination  plot  against  the  king.     At  that  time,  the 
parliaments  were  so  blinded  as  repeatedly  to  vote  the  reality  of 
the  plot  in  question  :  hence  it  is  easy  to  judge  with  what  sort 
of  language  the  pulpits  would  resound  against  the  poor  devoted 
Catholics  at  that  period.     But  without  quoting  from  former 
records,  I  need  only  refer  to  a  few  of  the  publications  of  the 
present  day  to  justify  my  complaint.     To  begin  with  some  of 
the  nu:nberless  slanders  contained  in  the  J^o  Popery  Tract  of 
the  bishop  of  London,  Dr.  Porteus  :  he  charges  Catholics  with 
"  senseless  idolatry  to  the  infinite  scandal  of  religion  j"*  with 
trying  "  to  make  the  ignorant  think  that  indulgences  deliver 
the  dead  from  hell  j"f  and  that  by  means  of  "  zeal  for  holy 
church,  the  worst  man  may  be  secured  from  future  misery  :"J 
and  the  bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  Dr.  Halifax,  charges  Catholics 
with  "  Antichristian  idolatry,*^  the  worship  of  demons, ||  and 
idol  mediators."ir     He,  moreover,  maintains  it  to  be  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church  of  Rome,  that  "  pardon  for  every  sin,  whe- 
ther committed  or  designed,  may  be  purchased  for  money.** 
The  bishop  of  Durham,  Dr.  Shute  Harrington,  accuses  them  of 
"  idolatry,  blasphemy,  and  sacrilege."f  f     The  bishop  of  Lan- 
dafl'.  Dr.  Watson,  impeaches  the  Catholic  priests,  man'yrolo- 
gilts,  and   monks,  without   exception,  of  the  "  hypocrisy  of 
liars  ;"|J  and  he  lays  it  down,  as  the  moral  doctrine  of  Ca- 
tholics, that  "  humility,  temperance,  justice,  the  love  of  God 
and  man,  are  not  laws  for  all  Christians,  but  only  counsels  ol 
perfection. "§§     He  elsewhere  says,  "  that  the  Popish  religion  is 
the  Christian  religion,  is  a  false  position."||||     He  has,  more- 
over, adopted  and  republished  the  sentiments  of  some  of  his 
other  mitred  brethren  to  the  same  purpose.     One  of  these  as- 
serts, that,  "  instead  of  worshipping  God  through  Christ,  they 
(the  Catholics)  have  substituted  the  doctrine  of  demons."irir 
"  They  have  contrived  numberless  ways  to  make  a  holy  life 
needless,  and  to  assure  tiie  most  abandoned  of  salvation,  with- 
out repentance,  provided  they  will  sufficiently  pay  the  priest  for 
absolution."***     "  They  have  consecrated  murders,  &c."f  f  f 
"  The  Papists  =tick  fast  in  filthy  mire — by  the  affection  tliey 


♦  rnnfuttilion,  p.  39,  edit.'l'nC. 

^  Warburton's  Lectures,  p.  191. 

••  Ihid.  p.  347.  tt  Charge,  p.  11. 

H  Bishop  VVutson's  Tiiids,  vol.  i. 

f  IF  Hishop  Honson'-s  'TtwU,  vol.  v.  p,  272. 

♦tt  Ihid.  p.  282. 


t  Ihi.l.  p.  53 
11  Ibid.  p.  SS!". 


J  Ibid.  p.  .^S. 


IT  Ibid.  p.  'A^9. 
n  Letter  11.  to  Gibbon, 
'y  Ibid.  vol.  V.  Contents. 
*♦♦  Ibid.  p.  273. 


Letter  XXXII, 


203 


plot  which 
•  convicted 
it  time,  the 
;  reality  of 
what  sort 
or  devoted 
am  former 
ions  of  the 
th  some  of 
•y  Tract  of 
lolics  with 
n;"*  with 
ces  deliver 
I  for  holy 
misery  :"j 
1  Catholics 
ions,||  and 
e  the  doc- 
'  sin,  whe- 
money.** 
les  them  of 
)p  of  Lan- 
mar\yrolo- 
pocrisy  of 
ne  of  Ga- 
ze of  God 
counsels  ot 
religion  is 
las,  more- 
me  of  his 
f  these  as- 
irist,  thev 
tnons."1'ir 
I  holy  life 
ion,  with- 
priest  for 
&c."tff 
ction  they 


J.  p.  !)3. 
(1.  p.  'A58. 
>  Uibboii. 
>iit('nt8. 
273. 


to  otlicr  lusts,  which  their 


fitted  to  gratify, 


^<!ar  to  otucr  nists,  wnich  trieir  errors  are  iitted  to  gratily/'* 
"  It  is  impossible  that  any  sincere  person  should  give  an  im- 
plicit assent  to  many  of  their  doctrines :  but,  whoever  can  prac- 
tice upon  them,  can  be  nothing  better  than  a  most  shamefully 
debauched  and  immoral  wretch."f     Another  prelate,  of  later 
promotion,  gives  a  comprehensive  idea  of  Catholics,  where  he 
calls  them  "  Enemies  of  all  law,  human  and  divine."  j     If  such 
be  the  tone  of  the  Episcopal  bench,  it  would  be  vain  to  expect 
more  moderation  from  the  candidates  for  it :  but  I  must  con- 
tract my  quotations  in  order  to  proceed  to  more  important  mat- 
ter.    One  of  these,  who,  while  he  was  content  with  an  inferior 
dignity,  acted  and  preached  as  the  friend  of  Catholics,  since  he 
has  arrived  at  the  verge  of  the  highest,  proclaims  "  Popery  to 
be  idolatry  and  Antichristianism ;"  maintaining,  as  does  also 
the  bishop  of  Durham,  that  it  is  *'  the  parent  of  Atheism,  and  ol 
that  antichristian  persecution"  (in  France)  of  which  it  was  ex- 
clusively the  victim.^     Another  dignitary  of  the  same  cathedral, 
taking  up  Dr.  Sparke's  calumny,  seriously  declares  that  the 
Catholics   are  Aniinomians,\\  which  is  the  distinctive  charac- 
ter of  the  Jumpers,  and  other  rank  Calvinists.     Finally,  the 
celebrated  city  preacher,  C.  De  Coetlogon,   among   similar 
graces  of  oratory,  pronounces  that  "  Popery  is  calculated  only 
for  the  meridian  of  hell.    To  say  the  best  of  it  that  can  be  said, 
Popery  is  a  most  horrid  compound  of  idolatry,  superstition,  and 
blasphemy. "IT    "  The  exercise  of  Christian  virtues  is  not  at  all 
necessary  in  its  members ,  nay,  there  are  many  heinous  crimes, 
which  are  reckoned  virtues  among  them,  such  as  perjury  and 
murder,  when  committed  against  heretics."**     And  is   such 
then,  dear  sir,  the  real  character  of  the  great  body  of  Christians 
throughout  the  world  ?     Is  such  a  true  picture  of  our  Saxon 
and  English  ancestors  ?    Were  such  the  clergy  from  whom 
these  modern  preachers  and  writers  derive  their  liturgy,  their 
ritual,  their  honours  and  benefices,  and  from  whom  they  boast 
of  deriving  their  orders  and  mission  also?     But,  after  all,  do 
these  preachers  and  writers  themselves  seriously  believe  such  to 
be  the  true  character  of  their  Catholic  countrvmen,  and  the 
primitive  religion  ?   No,  sir,  they  do  not  seriously  believe  it  :f  f 

■*  Bi.shop  Fowlnr,  vol.  vi.  p.  390..  t  Ibid.  p.  337. 

I  Dr.  Spurke,  Uisliop  of  Ely,  Concio.  nd  Synod.  1807. 

()  Discourses  of  Dr.  Ueimel,  dean  of  Winchester,  p.  140,  &c, 

II  (Miargc  of  Dr.  Hook,  archdeacon,  &c.  p.  5,  &c. 

V  Seasonable  Caution  ngaLnst  the  abonunatioiis  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  Pref. 
p.  .I  ♦►  Ihid.  p.  11. 

tf  This  may  be  exemplified  by  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Wake,  !irchi)i,>hop  of  Canter- 
bury    i'cw  writers  hud  misrepresented  the  Catholic  relij^ion  mort  foully  than  b« 


'I 


,t ' 

!1 


lil 


m 


204 


Letter  XXXIL 


I 


I 

If 

El  i 


but  being  unfortunately  engaged,  as  I  said  before,  in  an  here 
ditary  revolt  against  the  church,  which  shines  forth  conspicuous, 
with  every  feature  of  truih  in  her  countenance,  and  wanting  the 
rare  grace  of  acknowledging  their  error,  at  the  expense  of 
temporal  advantages,  they  have  no  other  defence  for  themselves 
but  clamour  and  calumny,  no  resource  for  shrouding  those 
beauteous  features  of  the  church,  but  by  placing  before  them 
the  hideous  mask  of  misrepresentation ! 

Before  I  close  this  letter,  I  cannot  help  expressing  an  earnest 
wish  that  it  were  in  my  power  to  suggest  three  most  important 
considerations  to  uJl  and  every  one  of  the  theological  calumnia- 
tors in  question.  I  pass  over  their  injustice  and  cruelty  towards 
us;  though  this  bears  some  resemblance  with  the  barbarity  of 
Nero  towards  our  predecessors,  the  first  Christians  of  Rome, 
who  disguised  them  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  then  hunted 
them  to  death  with  dogs.  But  Christ  has  warned  us  as  follows: 
It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  to  be  as  his  master ;  if  they  have 
called  the  master  of  the  house  Beelzebub:  how  much  more  them 
of  his  household.  In  fact,  we  know  that  those  our  above-men- 
tioned predecessors  were  charged  with  worshipping  the  head  of 
an  ass,  and  of  killing  and  eating  children,  &;c. 

The  first  observation  wliich  I  am  desirous  of  making  to  these 
controvertists,  is,  that  their  charges  and  invectives  against  Ca« 
tholics  never  unsettle  the  faith  of  a  single  individual  amongst 
us ;  much  less  do  they  cause  any  Catholic  to  quit  our  commu- 
nion. This  we  are  sure  of,  because,  after  all  the  pains  and  ex- 
had  done  in  his  controversial  works :  even  in  his  commentary  on  the  Catechism, 
he  accuses  it  oi  htresy,  schism,  and  idolaU-y:  but,  having  entered  into  acorrespond- 
cnce  witli  Dr,  Dupiri,  for  tlie  purpose  of  uniting  their  respective  churches,  he  as- 
sures tiie  Catholic  divine,  in  his  last  letter  to  him,  as  follows:  "  In  dogmatibus, 
prout  a  tc  candidc  proponuntur,  non  admodum  disscntimus ;  in  rcginiine  eccle- 
«iastico  minus;  in  fundaniciitalibus,  nive  doctrinain,  sive  disciplinam  spectemus, 
vix  omninn."  Append,  to  Moslioim's  Hist.  vol.  vi.  p.  121.  The  present  writer 
has  been  informed,  on  pood  authority,  that  one  of  tiie  bishops,  whose  calumnies 
are  here  quoted,  M'hen  he  found  himself  on  his  deathbed,  refused  the  proflTered 
ministry  of  tlie  primate  and  expressed  a  great  wish  to  die  a  Catholic.  When 
urged  to  satisfy  his  coiiscif  nee,  he  exclaimed  :  What  then  will  become  of  wiy  lady 
and  imj  children  f  Certain  it  is  that  very  many  Protestants,  who  had  been  the  most 
violent  in  their  language  and  conduct  against  the  Catholic  church,  as  for  example, 
•John,  Elector  of  Saxony,  Margaret,  Queen  of  Navarre,  Cromwell,  Lord  Essex, 
Dudley,  Karl  of  Nortlinniberland,  king  Cliailes  H,  the  late  Lords  Montague,  Nu- 
gent, Dunnoyne.  &c.  did  actuully  reroneile  tliemselves  to  the  Catholic  church  in 
that  situation.  The  writer  may  add,  liiat  another  of  tlu!  calumniators  here  quoted, 
being  desirous  of  stilling  tlie  suspicion  o*"  his  having  written  an  anoii^ymous  No- 
J'rncry  publication,  when  first  he  took  pari  in  that  cause, privately  addressed  him- 
«t'lf  t')  the  writtT  in  these  terms:  How  con  you  susprct  me  of  writing  against  youi 
rilitrion,  whin  yon  so  well  kuow  my  altaehmmt  to  it!  In  fact,  this  modern  Luther, 
innonic  other  similar  concessions,  has  said  thus  to  the  >V4!tcr:  /  sucked  in  a  love  for 
tlte  Ciitholic  rtligion  with  my  motlur's  milk. 


penses  o 

Confutat 

tages  of 

pastors,  1 

tained  in 

catechisn 

dissolute 

as  one  of 

self,  on  hi 

noblemar 

times  a  p 

communii 

single  pre 

and  Lond 

I  may  sa 

JVo  Pope 

Durham. 

A  socoi 

tlon  of  th 

flagrant  n 

\y  an  occe 

upright  mi 

company 

of  iuquirir 

irreligion 

ed  them 

deceived 

viewing  m 

hideous  m 

to  becomt 

concern. 

The  mc 
sideration 
must  all 
amined  or 
rest,  thou 
supposing 
thollc  nei 
blood,  sh( 
to  be  calu 
thors  that 
venting  tl 


Letter  XXXIL 


305 


an  here 
ispicuous, 
inting  the 
xpense  of 
hemselves 
ing  those 
fore  them 

in  earnest 
important 
calumnia- 
y  towards 
rbarity  of 
of  Rome, 
en  hunted 
IS  follows : 
they  have 
more  them 
)ove-men- 
le  head  of 

g  to  these 
gainst  Ca- 
[  amongst 
r  commu- 
is  and  ex- 


e  Catechism, 
I  correspond- 
irches,  lie  as- 
dogmatibus, 
^inline  eccle- 
1  spcctemus, 
resent  writer 
le  calumnies 
the  proflTered 
olic.  When 
t  of  my  lady 
een  the  most 
for  example, 
Lord  Essex, 
iiitngue,  Nu- 
lic  cliurch  in 
here  quoted, 
•ii-ymous  No- 
dressed  him- 
against  ymii 
dern  Luther, 
li  in  a  love  jot 


penses  of  the  Protestant  societies  to  distribute  Dr.  Porteus's 
Confutation  of  Popery,  and  other  tracts,  in  the  houses  and  cot- 
tages of  Catholics,  not  one  of  the  latter  ever  comes  to  us,  their 
pastors,  to  be  furnished  with  an  answer  to  the  accusations  con- 
tained in  them ;  the  truth  is,  they  previously  know  from  their 
catechisms,  the  falsehood  of  them.  Sometimes,  no  doubt,  a 
dissolute  youth,  from  "  libertinism  of  principles  and  practice," 
as  one  of  the  above-mentioned  lords  loudly  proclaimed  of  him- 
self, on  his  deathbed ;  and  sometimes  an  ambitious  or  avaricious 
nobleman  or  gentleman,  to  get  honour  or  wealth  ;  finally,  some- 
times a  profligate  priest,  to  get  a  wife,  or  a  living,  forsakes  our 
communion ;  but,  I  may  challenge  Dr.  Porteus  to  produce  a 
single  proselyte  from  Popery  throughout  the  dioceses  of  Chester 
and  London,  M'ho  has  been  gained  by  his  book  against  it :  and 
I  may  say  the  same  with  respect  to  the  bishop  of  Durham's 
wVo  Popery  Charges,  throughout  the  dioceses  of  Sarum  and 
Durham. 

A  second  point  of  still  greater  importance  for  the  considera- 
tion of  these  distinguished  preachers  and  writers  is,  that  their 
flagrant  misrepresentation  of  the  Catholic  religion,  is  constant- 
ly an  occasion  of  the  conversion  of  several  of  their  own  most 
upright  members  to  it.  Such  Christians,  when  they  fall  into 
company  with  Catholics,  or  get  hold  of  their  books,  cannot  fail 
of  inquiring  whether  they  are  realJy  those  monsters  of  idolatry, 
irreligion  and  immorality,  which  those  divines  have  represent- 
ed them  to  be ;  when,  discovering  how  much  they  have  been 
deceived  in  these  respects,  by  misrepresentation  ;  and,  in  short, 
viewing  now  the  fair  face  of  the  Catholic  church,  instead  of  the 
hideous  mask  which  had  been  placed  before  it,  they  seldom  fail 
to  become  enamoured  of  it,  and,  in  case  religion  is  their  chief 
concern,  to  become  our  very  best  Catholics. 

The  most  important  point,  however,  of  all  others  for  the  con- 
sideration of  these  learned  iheologues,  is  the  following :  Wc 
must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  to  be  ex- 
amined on  our  observance  of  that  commandment,  among  the 
rest,  thou  shalt  not  hear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour ; 
supposing  then  these  their  clamorous  charges  against  their  Ca- 
tholic neighbours,  of  idolatry,  blasphemy,  perfidy,  and  thirst  of 
blood,  should  then  appear,  as  they  most  certainly  will  appear, 
to  be  calunuiies  of  the  worst  sort,  what  will  it  avail  their  au- 
thors that  these  have  answered  the  temporary  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  emancipation  of  Catholics,  and  of  rousing  the  po- 


!' 


I 


i 


»>  * 


w 


306 


Letter  XXXIIL 


h 


!  < 

ii 


pular  hatred  and  fury  against  them !     Alas !  what  will  it  avail 

them'  ■  ..-.:,..,  .     ,,     ;^      :^^^..^v 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  yours,  8tc. 

J.  M. 


.')' ' 


LETTER  XXXllI. 
To  MJ\IES  BROJVJY,  Esq. 

OJV  THE  mvOC^TWJ^  OF  SMJH'S. 

Dear  Sir,  "' 

The  first  and  most  heavy  charge  which  Protestants  bring 
against  Catholics,  is  that  of  idolatry.  They  say,  that  the  Ca- 
tholic church  has  been  guilty  of  this  crime  and  apostasy,  by 
sanctioning  the  invocation  of  saints,  and  the  worship  of  images 
and  pictures :  and  that  on  this  account  they  have  been  obliged 
to  abandon  her  communion,  in  obedience  to  the  voice  from  hea- 
veUf  sayings  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  he  not  partaken 
of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues.  Rev.  xviii. 
4.  Nevertheless,  it  is  certain,  dear  sir,  that  Protestantism  wn- 
not  founded  on  this  ground  either  in  Germany  or  in  Englan^l : 
for  Luther  warmly  defended  the  Catholic  doctrine  in  both  the 
aforesaid  particulars,  and  our  English  reformers,  particularly 
king  Edward's  uncle,  the  duke  of  Somerset,  only  took  up  this 
pretext  of  idolatry,  as  the  most  popular,  in  order  to  revolution- 
ise tJie  ancient  religion,  wliich  they  were  carrying  on  f.om  mo- 
tives of  avarice  and  ambition.  The  same  reasons,  namely,  that 
this  charge  of  idolatry  is  best  calculated  to  inflame  the  ignorant 
against  the  Catholic  church,  and  to  furnish  a  pretext  foi*  de- 
serting her,  have  caused  Protestant  controvertists  to  keep  up 
the  outcry  against  her  ever  since,  and  to  vie  with  each  other  in 
the  foulness  of  their  misrepresentation  of  her  doctrine  in  this 
particular. 

To  speak  fir:  t  of  the  invocation  of  saints  :  arcbbishop  Wake, 
[who  afterward,  as  we  have  seen,  acknowledged  to  Dr.  Dupin 
that  there  was  no  fundamental  difference  between  his  doctrine 
and  that  of  Catholics]  in  his  popular  Commentary  on  the 


Church 
other  G( 
has  been 
ofCath( 
substitut 
mous  tei 
ists,  spe£ 
among  o 
heathen 
commen( 
life,  but 
depend 
Saviour'i 
courtiers 
Such  is 
Catholici 
in  the  na 
to  stand 
hear  wha 
article,  ai 
prelates  c 
of  the  w 
ing  with 
good  an( 
course  tc 
from  Go( 
Mr  Red 
council  o 
Pope  Pi 
be  praye 
himself  ? 
things  ; 
God,  th; 
nhat  we 
tlie  instri 
nngels  as 
honour  v 
presented 
Catiiolic! 
publishec 


*  Sect. 
J  Brief  ( 


w\\\  It  avail 

'      M  •      ■  ' 

J.  M. 


ta«ts  bring 
hat  the  Ca- 
postasy,  by 
p  of  images 
een  obliged 
cefrom  hea- 
ot  partaken 

Rev.  xviii. 
tantism  wa 
n  England : 

in  both  the 
particularly 
took  up  this 

revolution- 
in  r.om  mo- 
lamely,  that 
the  ignorant 
jtext  for  de- 

to  keep  up 
ach  other  in 
trine  in  this 

shop  Wake, 
» Dr.  Dupin, 
his  doctrine 
tary  on  the 


Letter  XXXIIL 


207 


Church  Catechism,  maintains,  that  "  The  church  of  Rome  has 
other  Gods  besides  the  Lord."*  Another  prelate,  whose  work 
has  been  lately  republished  by  the  bishop  of  Landaff,  pronounces 
of  Catholics,  that,  "  Instead  of  worshipping  Christ,  they  have 
substituted  the  doctrine  of  demons." j  In  the  same  blasphe- 
mous terms,  Mede,  and  a  hundred  other  Protestant  controvert- 
ists,  speak  of  our  communion  of  saints.  The  bishop  of  London, 
among  other  such  calumnies,  charges  us  with  "  Bringingback  the 
heathen  multitude  of  deities  into  Christianity ;"  that  we  "  Re- 
commend ourselves  to  some  favourite  saint,  not  by  a  religious 
life,  but  by  flattering  addresses  and  costly  presents,  and  often 
depend  much  more  on  his  intercession,  than  on  our  blessed 
Saviour's ;"  and  that,  "  being  secure  of  the  favour  of  these 
courtiers  of  heaven,  we  pay  little  regard  to  the  King  of  it."| 
Such  is  the  misrepresentation  of  the  doctrine  and  practice  of 
Catholics  on  this  point,  which  the  first  ecclesiastical  characters 
in  the  nation  publish  ;  because,  in  fact,  their  cause  has  not  a  leg 
to  stand  on,  if  you  take  away  misrepresentation !  Let  us  now 
hear  what  is  the  genuine  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church  in  this 
article,  as  solemnly  defined  by  the  Pope,  and  near  three  hundred 
prelates  of  different  nations,  at  the  council  of  Trent,  in  the  face 
of  the  whole  world ;  it  is  simply  this,  that  "  The  saints  reign- 
ing with  Christ  offer  up  their  prayers  to  God  for  men;  that  it  is 
good  and  useful  suppliantly  to  invoke  them,  and  to  have  re- 
course to  theh  prayers,  help,  and  assistance,  to  obtain  favours 
from  God,  through  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  is  alone 
ur  Redeemer  and  Saviour."'^  Hence  the  Catechism  of  the 
council  of  Trent,  published  in  virtue  of  its  decree,  ||  by  order  of 
Pope  Pius  V,  teaches,  that  "  God  and  the  saints  are  not  to 
be  prayed  to  in  the  same  manner ;  for  we  pray  to  God  that  he 
himself  would  give  us  good  things,  and  deliver  us  from  evil 
things  ;  but  we  beg  of  th»  saints,  because  they  are  pleasing  to 
God,  that  they  would  be  our  advocates,  and  obtain  from  God 
what  we  stand  in  need  of."1[  Our  first  English  Catechism  for 
the  instruction  of  children,  says,  "  We  are  to  honour  saints  and 
nngels  as  God's  special  friends  and  servants,  but  not  with  the 
honour  which  belongs  to  God."  Tinally,  The  Papist  Misre- 
presented  and  Represented,  u  work  of  great  authority  among 
Catholics,  first  published  by  our  eminent  divine  Gother,  and  re- 
published by  our  venerable  bishop,  Challoner,  pronounces  the 


♦  Sect  2— S.  t  Bishop  Watjon't  Thcol.  Tracts,  vol.  v.  p.  272. 

X  Brief  Confut.  pp.  23,  25.  ^  Concil.  Trid.  Sps«.  25.  dn  Invoe. 

II  Sej».  24.  lie  K»>r.  c.  7.  T  Pars  IV.  Quis  orandus. 

21 


I  ^1 

,  Vi  i 


>it 


Ua 


>  * . 


ll 


SOS 


Letter  XXXUI, 


] 


following  anathema  against  that  idolatrous  phantom  of  Catho- 
licity, which  Protestant  controvertists  have  held  up  for  the 
identical  Catholic  church .  "  Cursed  is  he  that  believes  the 
saints  in  heaven  to  be  his  redeemers,  that  prays  to  them  as  such, 
or  that  gives  God's  honour  to  them,  or  to  any  creature  whatso- 
ever. Amen."  "  Cursed  is  every  goddess  worshipper,  that 
believes  the  B.  Virgin  Mary  to  be  any  more  than  a  creature; 
that  worships  her,  or  puts  his  trust  in  her  more  than  in  God, 
that  believes  her  above  her  Son,  or  that  she  can  in  any  thing 
command  him.     Amen."* 

You  see,  dear  sir,  how  widely  different  the  doctrine  of  Ca- 
tholics, as  defined  by  our  church,  and  really  held  by  us,  is  from 
the  caricature  of  it,  held  up  by  interestea  preachers  and  con- 
trovertists, to  scare  and  inflame  an  ignorant  multitude.     So  far 
from  making  gods  and  goddesses  of  the  saints,  we  firmly  hold 
it  to  be  an  article  of  faith,  that,  as  they  have  no  virtue  or  excel- 
lence but  what  has  been  gratuitously  bestowed  upon  them  b^ 
God,  for  the  sake  of  his  incarnate  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  so  they 
can  procure  no  benefit  for  us,  but  by  means  of  their  prayers  to 
the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts^  through  their  and  our  common  Sa- 
viour, Jesus  Christ.     In  short,  they  do  nothing  for  us  mortals  in 
heaven,  but  what  they  did  while  they  were  here  on  earth,  and  what 
all  good  Christians  are  bound  to  do  for  each  other,  namely, 
they  help  us  by  their  prayers.     The  only  difference  is,  that  as 
the  saints  in  heaven  are  free  from  every  stain  of  sin  and  imper- 
fection, and  are  confirmed  in  grace  and  glory,  so  their  prayers 
are  far  more  efficacious  for  obtaining  what  they  ask  for,  than 
are  the  prayers  of  us  imperfect  and  sinful  mortals.     In  short, 
our  Protestant  brethren  will  not  deny  that  St.  Paul  was  in  the 
practice  of  begging  for  the  prayers  of  the  churches  to  which  he 
addressed  his  epistles,  Rom.  xv.  30,  8ic.  and  that  the  Almighty 
himself  commanded  the  friends  of  Job  to  obtain  his  prayers  for 
the  pardon  of  their  sins,  Job  xlii.  S ;  and  moreover,  that  they 
themselves  are  accustomed  to  pray  publicly  for  one  another. 
Now  these  concessions,  together  with  the  authorized  exposition 
of  our  doctrine,  laid  down  above,  are  abundantly  sufficient  to 
refute  most  of  the  remaining  objections  of  Protestants  against 
it.     In  vain,  for  example,  does  Dr.  Porteus  quote  the  text  of  St. 
Paul,  1   Tim.  ii.  5,  There  is  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men, 
the  man  Christ  Jesus;  for  we  grant  that  Christ  alone  is  the  Me- 
diator of  salvation ;  but  if  he  argues,  from  thence,  that  there  is 
no  other  mediator  of  intercession,  he  would  condemn  the  con- 

♦  Tap.  Misrcp.  Abridg;.  p.  78. 


rays. 


iSterXXXm. 


209 


of  Catho- 
p  for  the 
iieves  the 
n  as  such, 
e  wh'atso- 
)per,  that 
creature ; 
in  God, 
any  thing 

le  of  Ca- 
ns, is  from 
and  con- 
So  far 
rmly  hold 
I  or  excel- 
1  them  b^ 
t,  so  they 
jrayers  to 
nmon  Sa- 
mortals  in 
,  and  what 
,  namely, 
is,  that  as 
nd  imper- 
ir  prayers 
for,  than 
In  short, 
^as  in  the 
which  he 
/Vlmighty 
ayers  for 
that  they 
another, 
xposition 
ficient  to 
s  against 
!Xt  of  St. 
and  7nen, 
the  Me- 
there  is 
the  con- 


duct of  St.  Paul,  of  Job's  friends,  and  of  his  own  church.  In 
vain  does  he  take  advantage  of  the  ambiguous  meaning  of  the 
word  worship,  in  Mat.  iv.  10 ;  because,  if  the  question  be  about 
a  divine  adoration^  we  restrain  this  as  strictly  to  God,  as  he  can 
do ;  but  if  it  be  about  merely  honouring  the  saints,  we  cannot 
censure  that,  without  censuring  other  passages  of  Scripture,* 
and  condemning  the  bishop  himself,  who  expressly  says,  "  The 
saints  in  heaven  we  love  and  Aonour."f  In  vain  does  he  quote 
Revel,  xix.  10,  where  the  angel  refused  to  let  St.  John  prostrate 
himself,  and  adore  him ;  because,  if  the  mere  act  itself,  inde- 
pendently of  the  evangelist's  mistaking  him  for  the  Deity,  was 
forbidden,  then  the  three  angels,  who  permitted  Abraham  to 
bow  himself  to  the  ground  before  them,  were  guilty  of  a  crime, 
Gen.  xviii.  2,  as  was  that  other  angel,  before  whom  Josuah  fell 
on  his  face  and  worshipped.  Jos.  v.  14. 

The  charge  of  idolatry  against  Catholics,  for  merely  honour- 
ing those  whom  God  honours,  and  for  desiring  them  to  pray  to 
God  for  us,  is  too  extravagant,  to  be  any  longer  published  by 
Protestants  of  learning  and  character ;  accordingly  the  bishop 
of  Diirham  is  content  with  accusing  us  of  blasphemy,  on  the 
latter  part  of  thd  charge.  What  he  says  is  this :  "  It  is  blas- 
phemy, to  ascribe  to  angels  and  saints,  by  praying  to  them,  the 
divine  attribute  of  universal  presence."!  To  say  nothing  of 
his  lordship's  new  invented  blasphemy,  I  should  be  glad  to  ask 
him,  how  it  follows,  from  my  praying  to  an  angel  or  a  saint  in 
any  place,  that  I  necessarily  believe  the  angel  or  saint  to  be  in 
that  place  ?  Was  Elisha  really  in  Syria  when  he  saw  the  am- 
bush prepared  there  for  thtj  king  of  Israel  ?  2  Kings  vi.  9. 
Again,  we  know  that  There  is  joy  before  the  angels  of  God  over 
one  sinner  that  reptnteth,  Luke  xv.  10.  Now,  is  it  by  visual 
rays,  or  undulating  sounds,  that  these  blessed  spirits  in  heaven 
know  what  passes  in  the  hearts  of  men  upon  earth  ^  How  does 
his  lordship  know,  that  one  ])art  of  the  saint's  felicity  may  not 

*  The  word  worship,  in  this  place,  is  used  for  iuprenu  divine  homage,  as  appears 
by  the  original  Greek :  whereas  in  St.  Luke  xiv.  10,  the  English  translators  make 
use  of  it  for  the  lowest  de^ee  of  respect :  Thou  shalt  have  worship  in  the  presence  of 
them  that  sit  at  meat  with  tliee.  The  latter  is  the  proper  meaning  of  the  Avord  wor- 
ship, as  appears  by  the  marriage  service :  YVith  my  body  I  thee  xeorship,  and  by  the 
designation  of  the  lowest  order  of  magistrates,  his  worship  Mr.  Alderman  N. 
Nevertheless,  as  the  word  may  be  diHerently  interpreted,  Catiiolics  abstain  from 
applying  it  to  persons  or  things  inferior  to  God:  making  use  of  the  words  honour 
and  veneration  in  their  regard  ;  words  which,  so  applied,  even  bishop  Porteus  ap- 
proves us.  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  heinous  charge  of  idolatry  brought  against 
Catholics  for  their  respect  towards  the  saints,  is  grounded  on  notliiug  but  th«  mi»- 
taken  meaning  of  a  word  1 

»  P  23.  \  Charge  1810,  p.  \% 

21) 


in 


m 


r^ii 


.'  i;' 


210 


Lttier  XXXIII. 


consist  in  contemplating  the  wonderful  ways  of  God's  provi- 
dence with  all  his  creatures  here  on  earth  ?  But,  without  recur- 
ring to  this  supposition,  it  is  sufficient  for  dissipating  the  bi- 
shop's uncharitable  phantom  of  blasphemy,  and  Calvin's  profane 
jest  about  the  length  of  the  saint's  ears,  that  God  is  able  to  re- 
veal to  them  the  prayers  of  Christians  who  address  them  here 
on  earth.  In  case  I  had  the  same  opportunity  of  conversing 
with  this  prelate,  which  I  once  enjoyed,  I  should  not  fail  to 
make  the  following  observation  to  him :  my  lord,  you  publicly 
maintain,  that  the  act  of  praying  to  saints,  ascribes  to  them  the 
divine  attribute  o(  universal  presence  ;  this  you  call  blasphemy: 
now  it  appears,  by  the  articles  and  injunctions  of  your  church, 
that  you  believe  in  the  existence  and  efficacy  of  "  sorceries,  en 
chantments,  and  witchcraft,  invented  by  the  devil,  to  procure 
his  counsel  or  help,"*  wherever  the  conjuror  or  witch  may 
chance  to  be ;  do  you,  therefore,  ascribe  the  divine  attribute  of 
universal  presence  to  the  devil  ?  You  must  assert  this,  or  you 
must  withdraw  your  charge  of  blasphemy  against  the  Catholics 
for  praying  to  the  saints.  <         ,  ' 

That  it  is  lawful  and  profitable  to  invoke  the  prayers  of  the 
angels,  is  plain  from  Jacob's  asking  and  obtaining  the  angel's 
blessing,  with  whom  he  had  mystically  wrestled.  Gen.  xxxii. 
26,  and  from  his  invoking  his  own  angel  to  bless  Joseph's  sons, 
Gen.  xlvii.  16.  Th  j  same  is  also  sufficiently  plain,  with  respect 
to  the  saint},  from  the  Book  of  Revelations,  where  the  four  and 
twenty  elders  in  heaven  are  said  to  have,  golden  vials  full  oj 
odours,  lohich  are  the  prayers  of  the  saints.  Rev.  v.  8.  The 
church,  however,  derived  her  doctrine  on  this  and  other  points 
immediately  from  the  apostles,  before  any  part  of  the  New 
Testament  was  written.  The  tradition  was  so  ancient  and  uni- 
versal, that  all  those  Eastern  churches,  which  broke  off  from  the 
central  church  of  Rome,  a  great  many  ages  before  Protestantism 
was  heard  of,  perfectly  agree  with  us  in  honouring  and  invoking 
the  angels  and  saints.  I  have  said  that  the  patriarch  of  Pro- 
testantism, Martin  Luther,  did  not  find  any  thing  idolatrous  in 
the  doctrine  or  practice  of  the  church  with  respect  to  the  saints 
So  far  from  this,  he  exclaims,  "  Who  can  deny  that  God  works 
great  miracles  at  the  tombs  of  the  saints  ?  I  therefore,  with 
the  whole  Catholic  church,  hold  that  the  saints  are  to  be  honour- 
ed and  invocated  by  us."|     In  the  same  spirit  he  recommends 


Ir 


♦  Ir\junction9,  A.  D.  1559.    Bishop  Sparrow's  Collection,  p.  89.     Articles,  ibid. 
|K  180. 

t  In  Purg.  quoramd.  Ailic.  Tom.  i.     Germet,  Ep.  ad  Gcorgf.  Spalat 


'd's  provi- 
lout  recur- 
ng  the  bi- 
I's  profane 
able  to  re- 
them  here 
conversing 
lot  fail  to 
u  publicly 
)  them  the 
lasphemy: 
ir  church, 
ceries,  en 

0  procure 
I'Jtch  may 
ttribute  of 
is,  or  you 
Catholics 

ers  of  the 

le  angei's 

en.  xxxii. 

3h's  sons, 

th  respect 

J  four  and 

Is  full  of 

8.     The 

ler  points 

the  New 

and  uni- 

'  from  the 

estantism 

invoking 

1  of  Pro- 
atrous  in 
be  saints 
od  works 
)re,  with 

honour- 
>mmends 


ticks,  ibid 


Letter  XXXIIL 


SI  J 


this  devotion  to  dying  persons,  "  Let  no  one  omit  to  call  upon 
the  B.  Virgin  and  the  angels  and  saints,  that  they  may  inter- 
cede with  God  for  them  at  that  instant."*  I  may  add  that  se- 
veral of  the  brightest  lights  of  the  established  church,  such  . 
archbishop  Sheldon  and  the  bishops  Blandford,f  Gunning,J 
Montague,  &;c.  have  altogether  abandoned  the  charge  of  idola- 
try against  Catholics  on  this  head.  The  last  mentioned  of  them 
says,  "  I  own  that  Christ  is  not  wronged  in  his  mediation.  It  is 
no  impiety  to  say,  as  they  (the  Catholics)  do.  Holy  Mary,  pray 
forme;  Holy  Peter, pray  for  me;"§  whilst  the  candid  preben- 
dary of  Westminster  warns  his  brethren  "  not  to  lead  people  by 
the  nose,  to  believe  they  can  prove  Papists  to  be  idolaters  when 
they  cannot." II  i      •     .  /' 

In  conclusion,  dear  sir,  you  will  observe  that  the  council  of 
Trent,  barely  teaches  that  it  is  good  and  profitable  to  invoke  the 
prayers  of  the  saints ;  hence  our  divines  infer  that  there  is  no 
positive  law  of  the  church,  incumbent  on  all  her  children  to 
pray  to  the  saints  rlT  nevertheless,  what  member  of  the  Catholic 
church  militant  will  fail  to  communicate  with  his  brethren  of 
the  church  triumphant?  What  Catholic,  believing  in  the 
communion  of  saints,  and  that  "  the  saints,  reigning  with  Christ 
pray  for  us,  and  that  it  is  good  and  profitable  for  us  to  invoke 
their  prayers,"  will  forego  this  advantage  !  How  sublime  and 
consoling !  how  animating  is  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  true 
Catholics,  compared  with  the  opinions  of  Protestants!  We 
hold  daily  and  hourly  converse,  to  our  unspeakable  comfort 
and  advantage,  with  the  angelic  choirs,  with  the  venerable  pa- 
triarchs and  prophets  of  ancient  times,  with  the  heroes  of 
Christianity,  the  blessed  apostles  and  martyrs,  with  the  bright 
ornaments  of  it  in  later  ages,  the  Bernards,  the  Xaviers,  the 
Teresas,  and  the  Sales's  :  they  are  all  members  of  the  Catholic 
church.  Why  should  not  you  partake  of  this  advantage?  Your 
soul,  you  complain,  dear  sir,  is  in  trouble;  you  lament  that 
your  prayers  to  God  are  not  heard:  continue  to  pray  to  him 
with  all  the  fervour  of  your  soul :  but  why  not  engage  his 
friends  and  courtiers  to  add  the  weight  of  their  prayers  to  your 
own?  Perhaps  his  Divine  Majesty  may  hear  the  prayers  of  the 
Jobs,  when  he  will  not  listen  to  those  of  an  Eiiphaz,  a  Bildad, 


*  Luth.  Prep,  ad  Mort. 

t  See  Duchess  of  York's  Testimony  in  Brunswick's  50  Reasons. 

t  Burnet's  Hist,  of  his  own  Times,  Vol.  i.  p.  437. 

^  Treat,  of  Invoc.  of  Saints,  p.  118. 

II  Thorndike,  Just  Weights,  p.  10. 

if  Petavius,  Suarez,  Wallenburg,  Muratori,  Nat.  Alex. 

A.  1 


%z 


fll% 


Ijetter  XXXIIl. 


m 


m 


\-0 


or  a  Zophar.  Jot  xlli.  You  believe,  no  doubt,  that  you  liave 
an  angel  guardian,  appointed  by  God  to  protect  you,  conform^ 
ably  to  what  Christ  said  of  the  children  presented  to  him  :  Their 
angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  tvho  is  in  heaven, 
Mai.  xviii.  10  :  address  yourself  to  this  blessed  spirit  with  gra- 
titude, veneration,  and  confidence.  You  believe  also,  that, 
among  the  saints  of  God,  there  is  one  of  supereminent  purity 
and  sanctity,  pronounced  by  an  archangel  to  be,  not  only  gra- 
cious, but  "full  of  grace;"  the  chosen  instrument  of  God  in 
the  incarnation  of  his  Son,  and  the  intercessor  with  this  her  Son, 
m  obtaining  his  first  miracle,  that  of  turning  water  into  wine,  at 
a  time,  when  his  "  time"  for  appearing  to  the  world  by  miracles, 
was  "  not  yet  come."  John  ii.  4.  "  It  is  impossible,"  as  one 
of  the  fathers  says,  "  to  love  the  son,  without  loving  the  mo- 
ther:" beg  of  her,  then,  with  affection  and  confidence,  to  inter- 
cede with  Jesus,  as  the  poor  Canaanltes  did,  to  change  the 
tears  of  your  distress  into  the  wine  of  gladness,  \.y  affording 
you  the  light  and  grace  you  so  much  want.  Yon  cdLwnoi  re- 
fuse to  join  with  me  in  the  angelic  salutation:  Hail  full  of 
grace^  our  Lord  is  with  ihee,^  nor  in  the  subsequent  address  of 
the  inspired  Elizabeth :  Blessed  art  thou  among  women,  and 
blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,  Luke  i.  42  :  cast  aside,  then,  I 
beseech  you,  dear  sir,  prejudices,  which  are  not  only  ground- 
less but  also  hurtful,  and  devoutly  conclude  with  me,  in  the 
words  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  uvon  earth  :  Holy  Mary, 
mother  of  God,  pray  for  us  sinners,  now,  and  at  the  hour  of  out 
decUh.  Amen, 

I  am,  he. 

J.  M. 


U 


♦  Luke  i.  28.    The  Cathorc  version  is  here  used,  as  more  conformable  to  the 
Creek  as  well  as  the  Vulgate  than  the  Protestant,  wWch  renders  tiie  passage:  Hail 
who  art  h^hly  favoured. 


4 


.U\/[  213  ] 


you  have 
,  conform- 
im:  Their 

in  heaven, 

with  gra- 
also,  that, 
ent  purity 

only  gra- 
of  God  ill 
is  her  Son, 
to  wine,  at 
y  miracles, 

,"  as  one 
g  the  mo- 
',  to  inter- 
liange  the 
'  affording 
oannot  re- 
lil  full  of 
address  ot' 
omen,  and 
de,  then,  I 
y  ground- 
ne,  in  the 
yy  Mary, 
our  of  out 


.1"! 


'('(M.'IM. 


.A,-f 


'^   i 


.IV n')-'   i; 


■>i}    i\    •(' 


LETTER  XXXIV. 
To  JAMES  BROWK,  Esq, 

OX  RELIGIOUS  MEMORMLS. 


•(! 


I.I       a 


i    \.> 


'f:'i- 


Dear  Sir, 

If  the  Catholic  church  has  been  so  grievously  injured  by  the 
misrepresentation  of  her  doctrine  respecting  prayers  to  the 
saints,  she  has  been  still  more  grievously  injured  by  the  prevail- 
ing calumnies  against  the  respect  which  she  pays  to  the  memo- 
rials of  Christ  and  his  saints,  namely  to  crucifixes,  relics,  pious 
pictures  and  images.  This  has  been  misrepresented,  from  al- 
most the  first  eruption  of  Protestantism,*  as  rank  idolatry,  and 
as  justifying  the  necessity  of  a  Reformation.  To  countenance 
such  misrepresentation  in  our  own  country,  in  particular,  avari- 
cious courtiers  and  grandees  seized  on  the  costly  shrines, 
statues  and  other  ornaments  of  all  the  churches  and  chapels, 
and  authorized  the  demolition  or  defacing  of  all  other  religious 
memorials  of  whatever  nature  or  materials,  not  only  in  places 
of  worship,  but  also  in  market  places  and  even  in  private  houses. 
In  support  of  the  same  pious  fraud,  the  Holy  Scriptures  were 
corrupted  in  their  different  versions  and  editions,f  till  religious 


J.  M. 


mable  to  the 
assage:  Hail 


♦  Martin  Luther,  with  all  his  hatred  of  the  Catholic  church,  found  no  idolatry 
JH  her  doctrine  respecting  crosses  and  images :  on  the  contrary,  he  warmly  de- 
fended it  against  Carlostadius  and  his  associates,  who  had  destroyed  those  in  the 
churches  of  Wittenbei"g.  Epist.  ad  Gasp.  Guttal.  In  the  titlepages  of  his  vo- 
lumes, published  by  Melancthon,  Luther  is  exhibited  on  his  knees  before  a  cruci- 
fix. Queen  Elizabeth  persisted  for  many  years  in  retaining  a  crucifix  on  the  al- 
tar of  her  chapel,  till  some  of  her  Puritan  courtiers  engaged  Patch,  the  fool,  to 
break  it :  "  no  wiser  man,"  says  Dr.  Heylen,  (Hist,  of  Reform,  p.  124,) "  daring  to 
undertake  such  a  service."  James  L  thus  reproached  the  Scotch  bishops,  when 
tin  objected  to  his  placing  pictures  and  statues  in  his  chapel  at  Edinburgh  :  "  You 
caii  endure  Lions  and  Dragons  (the  supporters  of  the  royal  anns)  and  Devils,  (Q 
Elizabeth's  G-riflins)  to  be  figured  in  your  churches,  but  will  not  allow  the  like 
place  to  pu,triarchs  and  apostles."  Spotswood's  History,  p.  530. 

t  See  in  the  present  English  Bible,  Colos.  iii,  5.  Covetousness  which  is  idolatry : 
this,  in  the  Bibles  of  1562,  1577,  and  1579,  stood  thus:  Covetousness  which  is  the 
loorshipping  of  images.  In  like  manner  where  we  read,  a  covetous  nwn,  who  is  an 
idolater,  in  the  former  editions  we  read,  a  covetous  man  which  is  a  worshipper  of 
idols.  Instead  of,  What  ap^et/mcnt  hath  the  temple  of  God  with  idols,  2  Cor.  vi.  16  : 
it  used  to  stand.  How  agiretk  the  temple  of  God  with  images.  Instead  of,  LitHe  chil- 
dren keep  yourselves  from  idols,  1  John  v.  21 :  it  stood,  during  the  reigns  of  Edward 
and  Elizabeth,  Babes  keep  yourselves  from  images.  There  were  several  other  mani- 
fest corruptions  in  this  as  well  iis  in  otiier  points  in  the  ancient  Pi-otestant  Bibles; 
«UQie of  wliich  remain  in  tlie  picseiit  veiJiiojj. 


11 

v.ml 


P 


214 


Letter  XXyillL 


;.  h 


Protestants,  themselves,  became  disgusted  with  them,^  and 
loudly  called  for  a  new  translation.  This  was  accordingly 
made,  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  James's  reign.  In  short, 
every  passage  in  the  Bible,  and  every  argument  which  common 
sense  suggests  against  idolatry,  was  applied  to  the  decent  re< 
spect  which  Catholics  show  to  the  memorials  of  Christianity. 

The  misrepresentation,  in  question,  still  continues  to  be  the 
chosen  topic  of  Protestant  controvertists,   for  inflaming  the 
minds  of  the  ignorant  against  their  Catholic  brethren.    Accord- 
ingly, there  is  hardly  a  lisping  infant,  who  has  not  been  taught 
that  the  Romanists  pray  to  images,  nor  is  there  a  secluded  pea- 
sant who  has  not  been  made  to  believe,  that  the  Papists  worship 
Vfooden  gods.     The  Book  of  Homilies  repeatedly  affirms  that 
our  images  of  Christ  and  his  saints  are  idoh  ;  that  we  "  pray 
and  ask  of  them  what  it  belongs  to  God  alone  to  give ;  and  that 
"  images  have  beene  and  bee  worshipped,  and  so,  idolatry  com- 
mitted to  them  by  infinite  multitudes  to  the  great  offence  of 
God's  majestic,  and  danger  of  infinite  soules;  that  idolatrie  can 
not  possibly  be  separated  from  images  set  up  in  churches,  and 
that  God's  horrible  wrath,  and  our  most  dreadful  danger,  CiUinot 
be  avoided  without  the  destruction  and  utter  abolition  of  all  such 
images  and  idols  out  of  the  church   and  temple  of  God."f 
Archbishop  Seeker  teaches  that  "  The  church  of  Rome  has 
other  Gods,  besides  the  Lord,"  and  that  "  there   never  was 
greater  idolatry  among  heathens  in  the  business  of  image-wor- 
shipping than  in  the  church   of  Rome."J     Bishop  Porteus, 
though  he  does  not  charge  us  with  idolatry,  by  name,  yet  he 
intimates  the  same  thing,  where  he  applies  to  us  one  of  the 
strongest  passages  of  Scripture  against  idol  worship  :  They  that 
make  them  are  like  unto  them  ;  and  so  is  every  one  that  trusteih 
in  them.     O  Israel,  trust  thou  in  the  Lord.  Ps.  cxiii.*^ 

Let  us  now  hear  what  the  Catholic  church  herself  has  so- 
lemnly pronounced  on  the  present  subject,  in  her  general  coun- 


♦  See  the  account  of  what  passed  on  this  subject,  at  the  Conference  of  Hampton 
Court,  in  Fuller's  and  Collier's  Churcli  Histories,  and  in  Neal's  History  of  the  Pu- 
ritans. 

t  Against  the  Perils  of  Idol.  P.  iii.— This  admonition  was  quickly  carried  into 
effect,  throughout  Engvand.  AH  statues,  bas-reiievos,  and  crosses,  were  demolish- 
ed in  all  the  churches,  and  all  pictures  were  defaced ;  while  they  continued  to 
hold  their  places,  as  they  do  still,  in  the  Protestant  churches  of  Germany.  At 
Jength  common  sense  regained  its  rights,  even  in  tliis  country.  Accordingly,  we 
Bee  the  cross  exalted  at  the  top  of  its  principal  church  (St.  Paul's,)  which  is  also 
ornamented,  all  round  it,  with  the  statues  of  saints ;  most  of  the  cathedrals  and 
collegiate  churches  now  contain  pictures,  and  some  of  them,  as  for  example, 
Westminster  Abbey,  carved  images. 

X  Comment,  on  Ch.  Catech.  sect.  21.  ^  P.  31. 


hem,*  and 
iccordingly 
In  short, 
;h  common 
decent  re- 
istianity. 
!S  to  be  the 
aming  the 
Accord- 
een  taught 
luded  pea- 
sts  worship 
ffirms  that 
we  "  pray 
i  f  and  that 
latry  coni- 
offfnce  of 
olatrie  can 
rches,  and 
;^er,  CiUinot 
of  all  such 
of  God."f 
Rome  has 
never  was 
nage-wor- 
•  Porteus, 
le,  yet  he 
•ne  of  the 
They  that 
at  trusteih 

If  has  so- 
erul  couu" 


of  Hampton 
ry  ofthePu- 

carried  into 
re  demolist)- 
ontinued  to 
rmany.  At 
'rdingly,  we 
'liich  is  also 
hedrals  and 
•r  example, 


Letter  XXXJT  ., 


215 


cll  of  Trent.  She  says,  "  The  images  of  Christ,  of  the  Virgin 
Mother  of  God,  and  the  other  saints,  are  to  be  kept  and  re- 
tained; particularly  in  the  churches,  and  due  honour  and  vene- 
ration is  to  be  paid  them  :  not  that  we  believe  there  is  any  divi- 
nity or  power  in  them,  for  which  we  respect  them,  or  that  any 
thing  is  to  be  asked  of  them,  or  that  trust  is  to  be  placed  in  them, 
as  the  heathens  of  old  trusted  in  their  idols."*  In  conformity 
with  this  doctrine  of  our  church,  the  following  question  and 
answer  are  seen  in  our  first  catechism,  for  the  instruction  of 
children:  "Question:  May  we  pray  to  relics  or  images? 
Answer:  No;  by  no  means,  for  they  have  no  life  or  sense  to 
hear  or  help  us."  Finally,  that  work  of  the  able  Catholic  wri- 
ters Gother  and  Challoner,  which  I  quoted  above,  The  Papist 
Misrepresented  and  Represented,  contains  the  following  anathe- 
ma, in  which  I  am  confident  every  Catholic  existing  will  readily 
join,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  commits  idolatry ;  that  prays  to  im- 
ages or  relics,  or  worships  them  for  God.  Amen." 

Dr.  Porteus  is  very  positive  that  there  is  no  Scriptural  war-' 
rant  for  retaining  and  venerating  these  exterior  memorials,  and 
he  maintains  that  no  other  memorial  ought  to  be  admitted  than 
the  Lord's  Supper.f  Does  he  remember  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant, made  by  the  command  of  God,  together  with  the 
punishment  of  those  who  profaned  it,  and  the  blessing  bestow- 
ed on  those  who  revered  it  f  And  what  was  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  after  all?  A  chest  of  Settim  wood,  containing  the 
tables  of  the  law  and  two  golden  pots  of  manna ;  the  whole 
being  covered  over  by  two  carved  images  of  cherubims ;  in 
short,  it  was  a  memorial  of  God's  mercy  and  bounty  to  his 
people.  But,  says  the  bishop,  "  The  Roman  Catholics  make 
images  of  Christ  and  of  his  saints  after  their  own  fancy :  before 
these  images,  and  even  that  of  the  cross,  they  kneel  down  and 
prostrate  themselves :  to  these  they  lift  up  their  eyes,  and  in 
that  posture  they  pray."|  Supposing  all  this  to  be  true ;  has 
the  bishop  never  read,  that  when  the  Israelites  were  smitten  at 
Ai,  Joshua  fell  to  the  earth  upon  his  face,  before  the  ark  of  the 
Lord,  until  the  even  tide,  he  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  Joshua 
said,  Mas,  O  Lord  God,  S/-C.  Jos.  vii.  6.  Does  not  he  him- 
self oblige  those  who  frequent  the  above-mentioned  memorial, 
to  kneel  and  prostrate  themselves  before  it,  at  which  time  it  is 
to  be  supposed  they  lift  up  their  eyes  to  the  sacrament  and  say 
their  prayers  ?  Does  not  he  require  of  his  people  that  "  when 
the  name  of  JESUS  is  pronounced  in  any  lesson,  &ic.  due  re- 


i 


i 


m 


*  Sess.  xxr. 


t  P.  23. 


}  Confut.  p.  27 


'  *'■■  4i  ■< 

■*  nit 


\  \ 


316 


Letter  XXXIF. 


( , 


If   , 


1 4 


i'\ 


verence  be  made  of  all  with  lowness  of  courtesie  ?"*  And  does 
he  consider  as  well  founded,  the  outcry  of  idolatry  against  the 
established  church,  on  this  and  the  preceding  point,  raised  by 
the  dissenters?     Again,  is  not  his  lordship    in    the  habit   ot 
kneeling  to  his  majesty  and  of  bowing  with  the  other  peers,  to 
an  empty  chair  when  it  is  placed  as  his  throne  ?     Does  he  not 
often  reverently  kiss  the  material  substance  of  printed  paper  and 
leather,  I  mean  the  Bible,  because  it  relates  to  and  represents 
the  sacred  word  of  God  ?     When  the  bishop  of  London  shall 
have  well  considered  these  several  matters,  methinks  he  will 
understand  the  nature  of  relative  honour,  by  which  an  inferior 
respect  may  be  paid  to  the  sign,  for  the  sake  of  the  thing  signi- 
fied, better  than  he  seems  to  do  at  present ;  and  he  will  neither 
directly  nor  indirectly  charge  the  Catholics  with  idolatry,  on 
account  of  indifierent  ceremonies,  which  take  their  nature  from 
4he  intention  of  those  who  use  them.     During  the  dispute  about 
pious   images,  which   took   place   in  the  eighth  century,  St. 
Stephen  of  Auxence,  having  endeavoured  in  vain  to  make  his 
persecutor,  the  emperor  Copronimus,  conceive  the  nature  of 
relative  honour  and  dishonour  in  this  matter,  threw  a  piece  of 
money,  bearing  the  emperor's  figure,  on  the  ground,  and  treat- 
ed it  with  the  utmost  indignity ;  when  the  latter  soon  proved, 
by  his  treatment  of  the  saint,  that  the  affront  regarded  himself 
rather  than  the  piece  of  metal. f 

The  bishop  objects,  that  the  Catholics  "  make  pictures  of 
God  the  Father  under  the  likeness  of^a  venerable  old  man." 
Certain  painters  indeed  have  represented  him  so,  as  in  fact  he 
was  pleased  to  appear  so  to  some  of  the  prophets,  Isa.  vi.  1. 
Dan.  vii.  9;  but  the  council  of  Trent  says  nothing  concerning 
that  representation,  which,  after  all,  is  not  so  common  as  thnt 
of  a  triangle  among  Protestants,  to  represent  the  trinity.  Thus 
much,  however,  is  most  certain,  that  if  any  Christian  were  ob- 
stinately to  maintain,  that  the  divine  nature  resembles  the  hu- 
man form,  he  would  be  an  anthropomorphite  heretic.  The  bi- 
shop moreover  signifies,  what  most  other  Protestant  controvcrt- 
ists  express  more  coarsely,  that  to  screen  our  idolatry  we  havo 
suppressed  the  second  commandment  of  the  Decalogue,  and  to 
make  up  the  deficiency,  we  have  split  the  tenth  commandment 
into  two.  My  answer  is,  that  I  apprehend  many  of  these  dis- 
putants are  ignorant  enough  to  believe  that  the  division  of  the 
commandments,  in  their  Common  Prayer  Book,  was  copied, 


♦  fT\junrtlon!i,  A.  D.  15nf»,  n.  52.    Canons  1603,  n.  18. 
f  Fieury,  Hiit  Eac.  L.  vliii.  n.  41. 


if  not  frc 
original  t 
learning, 
several  cc 
there  was 
and  anot 
making  t 
authority 
In  the  m< 
part  of  tt 
Bibles,  at 
die  words 
either  a  p 
the  bishoj 
iiig  coins 
a  mere  pr 
which  we 
that  I  int( 
way  app( 
sanctity, 
thers  gem 
will  not  s 
these,  whi 
brought  u 
departed 
was  let 
stood  upo 
But  to 
the  pressi 
with  the 
extravagj 
relative 
and  his 
Bible-bo( 
throne) 
Exod.  xx| 
they  beli 
for  wbicl 
Catholicj 
and  retai 


♦  St.  Aui 

t  ('atprh 

Abridimeu 


d^ 


Letter  XXXIV, 


217 


And  does 

gainst  the 

raised  hy 

habit   ot 

peers,  to 

)es  lie  not 

paper  and 

represents 

idon  shall 

i.s  he  will 

an  inferior 

ling  signi- 

ill  neither 

lolatry,  on 

ature  from 

3ute  about 

ntnrv,  St. 

)  make  his 

nature  of 

a  piece  of 

and  treat- 

»n  proved, 

ed  himself 

)ictares  of 
[)ld  man." 
in  fact  he 
Isa.  vi.  1. 
oncerning 
on  as  that 
ity.    Thus 
were  ob- 
es  the  hii- 
Tbe  bi- 
antrovcrt- 
f  we  have 
le,  and  tu 
nandmeiit 
these  dis- 
on  of  the 
s  copied, 


if  not  from  the  identical  Tables  of  Moses,  at  least  from  his 
original  text  of  the  Pentateuch ;  but  the  bishop,  as  a  man  of 
learning,  must  know  that  in  the  original  Hebrew,  and  in  the 
several  copies  and  versions  of  it,  during  some  thousands  of  years, 
there  was  no  mark  of  separation  between  one  commandment 
and  another;  so  that  v/e  have  no  rules  to  be  guided  by,  in 
making  the  distinction,  but  the  sense  of  the  context,  and  the 
authority  of  the  most  approved  fathers,*  both  which  we  follow. 
In  the  mean  time,  it  is  a  gross  calumny  that  we  suppress  any 
part  of  the  Decalogue ;  for  the  whole  of  it  appears  in  all  our 
Bibles,  and  in  all  our  most  approved  catechisms.f   To  be  brief 
die  words,  Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  things  are 
either  a  prohibition  of  all  images,  and,  of  course,  those  round 
the  bishop's  own  cathedral  of  St.  Paul,  as  likewise  of  all  exist- 
ing coins ;  which  I  am  sure  he  will  not  agree  to  j  or  else  it  is 
a  mere  prohibition  of  images  made  to  receive  divine  worship,  in 
which  we  perfectly  agree  with  him.    You  will  observe,  dear  sir, 
that  I  intend  to  include  relics^  meaning  things  which  have  some 
way  appertained  to  and  been  left  by  personages  of  eminent 
sanctity,  among  religious  memorials.     Indeed  the  ancient  fa- 
thers generally  call  them  by  that  name.     Surely  Dr.  Porteus 
will  not  say  that  there  is  no  warrant  in  Scripture  for  honouring 
these,  when  he  recollects  that,  From  the  body  of  St.  Paul  were 
brought  unto  the  sick,  handkerchiefs  and  aprons,  and  the  diseases 
departed  from  them,  Acts  xix.  12  ;  and  that,  When  the  dead  man 
was  let  down  and  touched  the  hones  of  Elisha,  he  revived  and 
stood  upon  his  feet.  2  Kings  xiii.  21. 

But  to  make  an  end  of  the  present  discussion  :  nothing  but 
the  pressing  want  of  a  strong  pretext  for  breaking  communion 
with  the  ancient  church  could  have  put  the  revolters  upon  so 
extravagant  an  attempt  as  that  of  confounding  the  inferior  and 
relative  honour  which  Catholics  pay  to  the  memorials  of  Christ 
and  his  saints,  (an  honour  which  they  themselves  pay  to  the 
Bible-book,  to  the  imnie  of  .lESUS,  and  even  to  the  king's 
throne)  with  the  idolatry  of  the  Israelites  to  their  golden  calf, 
Exod.  xxxii.  4,  and  of  the  ancient  heathens  to  their  idols,  which 
they  believed  to  be  inhabited  by  their  gods.  In  a  word,  the  end 
for  which  pious  pictures  and  images  are  made  and  retained  by 
Catholics,  is  the  same  for  which  pictures  and  images  are  made 
and  retained  by  mankind  in  general,  to  put  us  in  mind  of  the 


♦  St.  Augnstin,  QytPiit.  in  ExoH.  flum.  Al«.  Strom.  1.  vi.  Hieron.in  P«.  xxxil 
t  Caterh.  Roman  nH  Pnrorh.    Tlie  foli'>  Caterh,  of  Moiifpellicr.  Douajr  Cateob. 
Abridgment  of  L'linaliuii  Doctrine. 


w 


■m 


218 


Utter  XXXIV, 


Li   : 


persons  and  things  they  represent.  They  are  not  primarily  in- 
tended for  the  purpose  of  being  venerated ;  nevertheless,  as  they 
bear  a  certain  relation  with  holy  persons  and  things,  by  repre- 
senting them,  they  become  entitled  to  a  relative  or  secondary 
veneration ;  in  the  manner  already  explained.  I  must  not  for- 
get one  important  use  of  pious  pictures,  mentioned  'by  the  holy 
fathers,  namely,  that  they  help  to  instruct  the  ignorant.*  Still, 
it  is  a  point  agreed  upon  among  Catholic  doctors  and  divines, 
that  the  memorials  of  religion  form  no  essential  part  of  it.j* 
Hence,  if  you  should  become  a  Catholic,  as  I  pray  God  you 
may,  I  shall  never  ask  you,  if  you  have  a  pious  picture  or  relic, 
ov  so  much  as  a  crucifix  in  your  possession  :  but  then,  I  trust, 
after  the  declarations  J  have  made,  that  you  will  not  account  me 
nn  idolater,  should  you  see  such  things  in  my  oratory  or  study, 
or  should  you  observe  how  tenacious  I  am  of  my  crucifix,  in 
particular.  Your  faith  and  devotion  may  not  stand  in  need  of 
such  memorials :  but  mine,  alas  !  do.  I  am  too  apt  to  forget 
what  my  Saviour  has  done  and  suffered  for  me ;  but  the  sight 
of  his  representation  often  bnngs  this  to  my  memory,  and 
affects  my  sentiments.  Hence  I  would  rather  part  with  most  of 
the  books  in  my  library,  than  with  the  figure  of  my  crucified 
Lord. 


I  am,  &:c. 


'•/• 


\  ,■»  f 


J.  M. 

>  .\  \  ■ 

*  St.  Gregory  calls  pictures  Idiotarum  libri.  Epist.  I.,  ix.  9 
t  The  learned  Petavius  says :  "  We  must  lay  it  down  as  a  principle,  that  images 
are  to  be  reckoned  among  the  adiphora,  which  do  not  belong  to  tne  substance  of 
religion,  and  which  the  church  may  retain  or  take  away  as  she  judges  best"  L. 
XV.  de  Incar.  Hence  Dr.  Hawarden,  Of  Images,  p.  353,  teaches  with  Delphinus, 
that  if  in  any  place,  there  is  danger  of  real  idolatry  or  superstition  from  pictures, 
they  ought  to  be  removed  by  the  pastors  ;  as  St.  Epipiianius  destroyed  a  certain 
pious  picture,  and  Czcchias  destroyed  tlie  brazen  serpent  '-r..  .-^  ■  ■■    ■ 


•"I 


I 


i     I 


it 


[     219     ] 


nv€ 


ist 


'imarily  in- 
ess,  as  they 
,  by  repre- 

secondary 
not  for- 
the  holy 
nt.*  Still, 
nd  divines, 
art  of  it.f 
y  God  you 
re  or  relic, 
en,  I  trust, 
iccount  me 
y  or  study, 
crucifix,  in 
in  need  of 

to  forget 
t  the  sight 
nory,  and 
th  most  of 
'  crucified 

£C. 

J.M. 

;vi,   '  ,\  V. 

,  that  images 
substance  of 
es  best"  L. 
h  Delphinus, 
om  pictures, 
«cl  ft  oertain 


•  111 


{   '■<\  ••:!!  'li 


ttili* 


^M 


»i'/- 


f .  1 


LETTER  XXXV.         :     i 
To  the  Rev.  ROBERT  CLAYTON,  M.  A. 


OBJECTIOXa  ANSWERED.       >  n     •  .,., 

Rev.  Sir,        . 

I  LEARN  by  a  letter  from  our  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Brown,  ai 
well  as  by  your  own,  that  1  am  to  consider  you,  and  not  him, 
as  the  person  charged  to  make  the  objections,  which  are  to  be 
made,  on  the  pari  of  the  church  of  England,  against  my  theo- 
logical positions  and  arguments  in  future.  I  congratulate  the 
society  of  New  Cottage  on  the  acquisition  of  so  valuable  a 
member  as  Mr.  Clayton,  and  1  think  myself  fortunate  in  having; 
so  clear-headed  and  candid  an  opponent  to  contend  with,  as  his 
letter  shows  him  to  be.  ;     .     ,,  ,!i,? 

You  admit,  that,  according  to  my  explanation,  which  is  no 
other  than  that  of  our  divines,  our  catechisms  and  our  councils 
in  general,  we  are  not  guilty  of  idolatry  in  the  honour  we  pay 
to  saints  and  their  memorials,  and  that  the  dispute  between 
your  church  and  mine  upon  these  points,  is  a  dispute  about 
words  rather  than  about  things,  as  bishop  Bossuet  observes, 
mid  as  several  candid  Protestants,  before  you,  have  confessed. 
Vou  and  bishop  Porteus  agree  with  us,  that  "  the  saints  are  to 
be  loved  and  honoured ;  on  the  other  hand,  we  agree  with  you, 
that  it  would  be  idolatrous  to  pay  them  divine  worship,  or  to 
pray  to  their  memorials  in  any  shape  whatever.  Hence,  the 
only  question  remaining  between  us  is  concerning  the  utility  of 
desiring  the  prayers  of  the  saints :  for  you  say  it  is  useless,  be- 
cause you  think  that  th^y  cannot  h^ar  us,  ^^d  that,  therefore, 
the  practice  is  superstitious :  whereas,  1  b*ve  vindicated  the 
practice  itself,  and  have  sh»^wn  that  the  utility  of  it  no  wav  de- 
pends on  the  circumstance  of  the  blessea  spirits  immediately 
hearing  the  addresses  made  to  them.  ,  .  i 

Still  you  complain  that  I  have  not  answered  all  the  bishop's 
objections  against  the  doctrine  and  practices  m  question.  My 
reply  is,  that  I  have  answered  the  chief  of  them  :  and  whereas 
they  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  ancient  date,  and  have  been  again 
and  again  solidly  refuted  by  our  divines,  I  shall  send  to  New 
Cottage,  together  with  this  letter,  a  work  of  one  of  them,  who, 
fur  depth  of  learning  and  strength  of  argument,  has  not  been 


»»o 


IS  ^! 


u 


I 

I 


h 


220 


Letter  XXKV, 


hi 


surpassed  since  the  time  of  Bellarmin.*     There,  Rev.  sir,  yoa 
will  find  all  that  you  inquire  after,  and  you  will  discover,  in 
particular,  that  the  worship  of  the  angels,  which  St.  Paul  con- 
demns in  his  Epistle  to  the  CoIor<sians,  chap.  ii.  18,  means,  that 
of  the  fallen  or  wicked  angels,  whom  Christ  despoiled,  ver.  15, 
and  which  was  paid  to  them  by  Simon  the  magician  and  his 
followers,  as  the  makers  of  the  world.     As   to  the  doctrine  of 
Bellarmin  concerning  images,  it  is  plain  that  his  lordship  never 
consulted  the  author  himself,  but  only  his  misrepresenter  Vi- 
tringa ;  otherwise,  he  would  have  gathered  from  the  whole  ol 
this  precise  theologian*^  distinctions,  that  he  teaches  precisely 
the  contrary  to  that  which  he  is  represented  to  teach. f 
■f"  You  next  observe,  that  I  have  said  nothing  concerning  the 
extravagant  forms  of  prayer  to  the  blessed  Virgin  and  other 
saints,  which  Dr.  Porteus  has  collected  from  Catholic  prayer 
books,  and  which,  you  think,  prove  that  we  attribute  an  abso- 
lute and  unbounded  power  to  those  heavenly  citizens.     1  am 
aH'are,  Rev.  sir,  that  his  lordship,  as  well  as  another  bishop,| 
who  is  all  sweetness  of  temper,  except  when  Popery  is  men- 
tioned in  his  hearing,  and  indeed  a  crowd  of  other  Protestant 
writers,  ItaH 'employed  himself  in  making  such  collections,  but 
from  what  sources,  for  the  greater  pjirt  1  am  ignorant.     If  I 
were  to  charge  his  faith,  or  the  faith  of  his  church  with  all  the 
conclusions  that  could  logically  be  drawn  from  different  forms  ol 
prayer  to  be  met  with  in  the  books  of  her  most  distinguished 
prelates  and  divines,  or  from  the  Scriptures  themselves,  I  fancy 
the  bishop  would  strongly  protest  against  that  mode  of  reason- 
ing.    If,  for  example,   an   anthropomorphite  were  to  address 
him  :  you  say,  my  lord,  in  your  creed,  that  Christ  "  ascended 
fntb  heaven,  and  sitteth  at  the  rijfht  hand  of  God,"  therefore  it 
is  plain  you  believe  with  me,  that  God  has  a  human  shape ;  or 
if  a  Calvini.^t  were  to  say  to  him,  Yon  pray  to  God  that  he 
"  would  not  lead  you  into  temptation,"  therefore  you  acknow- 
ledge that  it  is  God  wlio  tempts  you  to  commit  sin  :  in  either  of 
tliese  cases  the  bishop  would  iussist  upon  explaining  the  texts 
Iwre  quoted  ;  he  woidd  argue  on  the  natnre  of  figures  of  speech, 
especially  in  the  language  of  poetry  and  devotion  j  and  would 


♦  Tjje  true  church  of  Clirist,  by  Edward  Hawardcn,  DD.  S.  T.  P.  The  aiithor 
Was  enffapod  irt  successful  contcsfN  with  Dr.  Clark,  bishop  Bull,  Mr.  Lcslif,  i-niJ 
other  eminent  Protestant  divines.  Tiie  work  hait  been  lutvlj  rcpuhlUhed  in  Dub- 
lin by  Coyii''. 

t  See  bp  Imajc.  T,.  ii.  c.  24. 

I  The  biihdp  uf  Hereford,  Dr.  Ifunlingiford,  who  has  sqtieezed  a  large  (quantity 
of  Uiii  in-nlrvant  ni.ittcr  into  his  cxainiiiutionuf  th*-  CaltM)liv  feiition. 


maintain, 
from  thes 
allowance 
will  disso 
Lastly 
ther  imag 
hundred  , 
that  duri 
Christian 
Dr.  Port 
cannot  b( 
stantine, 
ly  allowe 
obliged,  < 
raucous  ( 
ever,  fror 
§ent  our 
chalices  i 
informed 
friend  of 
image  of 
woman, 
and  also 
Paul,  wh 
rian  Zoz< 
in  the  r( 
neverthe: 
church.  I 
century, 
his  relics 
being  pa 
if  survey 
figures  a 
which  til 
the  Gosj 
fore  the 
Christ." 
every  m 
tians  us« 
and  Eu 


•  Lib. « 
J  Hiet. 


Lette.  XXXV, 


221 


?v.  sir,  yan 
iscover,  in 
Paul  con- 
neans,  that 
<Jj  ver.  15, 
in  and  his 
loctrine  of 
Iship  never 
Bsenter  Vi- 
le  whole  ol 
s  precisely 

■t 

erning  the 

and  other 
)llc  prayer 

e  an  abso- 
?ns.  I  am 
T  bisliop,! 
y  is  men- 
Protestant 
ctions,  but 

ant.  If  I 
''itb  all  the 
nt  forms  ol 
tinguished 
es,  I  fancy 
of  reason- 
to  address 
'  ascended 
herefore  it 
shape  J  or 
d  that  he 
I  acknow- 
1  cither  of 

tlie  texts 
af  speecli, 
nd  wouhl 


The  author 

I/Pslif.  vn<i 

lied  in  Dub- 


maintain,  that  the  belief  of  his  church  is  not  to  be  collected 
from  these,  but  from  her  defined  articles.  Make  but  the  same 
allowance  to  Catholics,  and  all  this  phantom  of  verbal  idolatry 
will  dissolve  into  air.  ''-^  ,-!,  (...m    ,1!   1  ,  v 

Lastly,  you  remind  me  of  the  bishop^s  assertion,  that  "  nei-< 
ther  images  nor  pictures  were  allowed  in  churches  for  the  first 
hundred  years.'*    To  this  assertion  you  add  your  own  opinion, 
that  during  that  same  period  no  prayers  were  addressed  by 
Christians  to  the  saints.     A  fit  of  oblivion  must  have  overtaken 
Dr.  Porteus  when  he  wrote  what  you  quoted  from  him,  as  he 
cannot  be  ignorant  that  it  was  not  till  the  conversion  of  Con- 
stantine,  in  the  fourth  century,  that  the  Christians  were  general- 
ly allowed  to  build  churches  for  their  worship,  having  been 
obliged,  during  the  ages  of  persecution,  to  practice  it  in  subter- 
raneous catacombs,  or  other  obscure  recesses.    We  learn,  how- 
ever, from  Tertullian,  that  it  was  usual,  in  his  time,  to  repre- 
sent our  Saviour  in  the  character  of  the  good  shepherd^  on  the 
chalices  used  at  the  assemblies  of  the  Christians  :*  and  we  are 
informed  by  Eusebius,  the  father  of  church  history,  and  the 
friend  of  Constantine,  that  he  himself  had  seen  a  miraculous 
image  of  our  Saviour  in  brass,  which  had  been  erected  by  tlie 
woman,  who  was  cured  by  touching  the  hem  of  his  garment, 
and  also  difl'erent  pictures  of  him,  and  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  which  had  been  preserved  since  their  time.f     The  histo- 
rian Zozomen  adds,  concerning  that  statue,  that  it  was  mutilated 
in  the  reign  of  Julian  the  apostate,  akid  that  the  Christians, 
nevertheless,  collected  the  pieces  of  it,  and  placed  it  in  their 
church. I     St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth 
century,  preaching  on  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Theodore,  describes 
his  relics  as  being  present  in  the  church,  and  his  sufferings  as 
being  painted  on  the  walls,  together  with  an  image  of  Christ,  as 
if  surveying  them.^    It  is  needless  to  carry  the  history  of  pious 
figures  and  paintings  down  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  at 
which  time  St.  Augustin  and  his  companions,  coming  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  our  Pagan  ancestors,  "  carried  a  silver  cross  be- 
fore them  as  a  banner,  and  a  painted  picture  of  our  Saviour 
Christ."!!     The   above-mentioned  Tertullian  testifies,  that  at 
every  movement  and  in  every  employment,  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians used  to  sign  their  foreheads  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,ir 
and  Eusebius  and  St.  Chrysostom  fill  whole  pages  of  their 


M^ 


it 

il 

11^ 


I 


to.  quantity 


*  Lib.  dePudicitia,c.  10. 

t  Hiet.  Ecdes.  1.  ▼.  c.  81. 

I  Bede  H  Eodei.  Hiat  1.  i.  &  15. 


t  HifltlviVe.  18. 

^  Oret  in  Theod. 

H  De  Coron.  Milit.  c.  S. 


<i  r 


3S3 


Utter  XXXV: 


works  with  testimonies  of  the  veneration  in  which  the  figure  of 
the  cross  was  anciently  held ;  the  latter  of  whom  expressly  says, 
that  the  cross  was  placed  on  the  altars^  of  the  churches.  The 
whole  history  of  the  martyrs,  from  St.  Ignatius  and  St.  Poly- 
carp,  the  disciples  of  the  apostles,  whose  relics,  after  their  exe- 
cution, were  carried  away  by  the  Christians,  as  "  more  valuable 
than  gold  and  precious  stones,"f  down  to  the  latest  martyr, 
incontestibly  proves  the  veneration  which  the  church  has  ever 
maintained  for  these  sacred  objects.  With  respect  to  your  own 
opinion.  Rev.  sir,  as  to  the  earliest  date  of  prayers  to  the  saints, 
1  may  refer  you  to  the  writings  of  St.  Ireneeus,  the  disciple  of 
St.  Polycarp,  who  introduces  the  blessed  Virgin  praying  for 
£ve,|  to  the  apology  of  his  contemporary  St.  Justin  the  martyr, 
who  says,  "  We  venerate  and  worship  the  angelic  host,  and  the 
spirits  of  the  prophets,  teaching  others  as  we  ourselves  have  been 
taught,"^  and  to  the  light  of  the  fourth  century,  St.  Basil,  who 
expressly  refers  these  practices  to  the  apostles,  where  he  says, 
**  I  invoke  the  apostles,  prophets,  and  martyrs  to  pray  for  me, 
that  God  may  be  merciful  to  me,  and  forgive  me  my  sins.  I 
honour  and  reverence  their  images,  since  these  things  have 
been  ordained  by  tradition  from  the  apo  ties,  and  are  practised 
in  all  our  churches." ||  You  will  agree  with  me,  that  I  need  not 
detcend  lower  than  the  foiurth  age  of  the  church. 

I  aiu,  &c. 


'-iU 


h.,i,iijf=f(! 


..-...••> 


J.  M. 


*  In  Orat.  Quod  Chrlstus  sit  Deus. 
f  Euseb.  Hist.  1.  iv.  c.  15.    Acta  Sincer.  Apud  Ruinart 

#  Contra  Hxres.  1.  v.  c.  19.        a  _.        ,  .     '   '      *  ~ 
I  I^piit.  205.  t.  ill.  edit.  Pans.      ,,|  ,  ,  >',, 

>»;  ,'^rtM  -Mu  •."■  M,  I  nit  (h:.-'-i  i.u    ■.'•■     i 
U:   , ._  :'fn  '•)   i!  /'■'.   ■;,';    ,  )  ;,     '.  Mj  •    •.    (, 

A-M.    -if    Ml      M'^ 

-'f.«',l    •'. '   1,1    I    /i  I 

TlMM  /•.'•!    •',   .!^     i')     '  .    ,•        ■     ,'     ,;■    ■    ,       , 
1/i     t>  ■;;     .      ..,•■:     :     '  :    1.    ',,      ;'     I.  . 
,  y\u   )  ■;  'lit  .1'  \i  •  -fil  , ;..  \\><n\  1 

.    - .' '  I    . . 


S  Apol.  2.  prope  Init.  ' 


'  .■■;   ■     .i    ■1,1 


f 

•>• 

')•      .;.';•  ' 

1 

1 

%V-> 

iU  ■;.  . 

T.i.    '       "li    M''  ' 

^ 

I 

ii 

i_  ,■  ■ 

.-!  ."  :  ■  '.1 

,  if      ,■ 

■r,  ' 

e  figure  of 
essiy  sajrs, 
lies.     The 
St.  Poly, 
their  exe- 
valuable 
St  martyr, 
I  has  ever 
your  own 
the  saints, 
lisciple  of 
a^'ing  for 
le  martyr, 
5t,  and  the 
have  been 
^asil)  who 
e  he  sa^s, 
»y  for  me, 
y  sins.    I 
ings  have 
practised 
f  need  not 


J.  fiL 


lit. 


.f  • 


■'..{  ' 


[225] 


i'22 


..■;/ 


.t;f 


■..If 


,v 


i.'iU 


-t'<i-. 


■J.Irifs'.* 


I'ii 


LETTER  XXXVL 

2b  J^JlfJE^  BROWK  Esq. 

(W  TRAMISUBSTMrriATKW, 


Mill' 


?••-  I 


'(    t! 


iff). 


ii(  'I  iJnv*  (ifjc 


;fr  r 


h.'! 


Dear  Sir, 

It  is  the  remark  of  the  prince  of  modem  controveitists,  bi- 
shop Bossuet,  that,  whereas  in  most  other  subjects  of  dispute 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  the  difierence  is  less  tlian  it 
seems  to  be,  in  this  of  the  holy  eucharist  or  Lord's  Supper,  it  is 
greater  than  it  appears.*  Tlie  cause  of  this  is,  that  our  op- 
ponents misrepresent  our  doctrine  concerning  the  veneration  of 
saints,  pious  images,  indulgences,  purgatory,  and  other  articles, 
in  order  to  strengthen  their  arguments  against  us;  whereas 
their  language  approaches  nearer  to  our  doctrine  than  their 
sentiments  do  on  the  subject  of  the  eucharist,  because  our  doc- 
trine is  so  strictly  conformable  to  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture. 
I'his  is  a  disingenuous  artifice ;  but  I  have  to  describe  two 
others  of  a  still  more  fatal  tendency ;  first,  with  respect  to  the 
present  welfare  of  the  Catholics,  who  are  the  subjects  of  them, 
and  secondly,  with  respect  to  the  future  wclfere  of  the  Protest- 
ants, who  deliberately  make  use  of  them. 

The  first  of  these  disingenuous  practices  consists  in  misrepre- 
senting Catholics  as  worshippers  of  bread  arid  wine  in  the  sacra- 
ment, and  therefore  as  idolaters^  at  the  same  time  that  our  ad- 
versaries are  perfectly  aware  that  we  firmly  believe,  as  an  ar- 
ticle of  faith,  that  there  is  no  bread  nor  wine,  but  Christ  alone, 
true  God,  as  well  as  man,  present  in  it.  Supposing,  for  a  mo- 
ment, that  we  are  mistaken  in  this  belief,  the  worst  we  could  be 
charged  with,  is  an  error,  in  supposing  Christ  to  be  where  he  is 
not ;  and  nothing  but  uncharitable  calumny,  or  gross  inatten- 
tion, could  accuse  us  of  the  heinous  crime  of  idolatry.  To  il- 
lustrate this  argument,  let  me  suppose,  that  being  charged  with 
a  loyal  address  to  the  sovereign,  you  presented  it,  by  mistake, 
to  one  of  his  courtiers,  or  even  to  an  inanimate  figure  of  him, 
which,  for  some  reason  or  other,  had  been  dressed  up  in  royal 
robes,  and  placed  on  the  throne,  would  your  heart  reproacii 
you,  or  would  any  sensible  person  reproach  you  with  the  guib 
of  treason  in  this  case?    Were  the  people  who  thought  in  their 


m 


«  Exposition  ofttbo  doctpne  of  the  Catholic  ohurah.  Sect  zxi- 


224 


Letter  XXXVL 


hearts  tliat  John  the  Baptist  was  the  Christ,  LuJce  iii.  15,  and 
who  probably  worshipped  him  as  such,  idolaters,  in  consequence 
of  their  error  f  The  la^ehood,  as  well  as  the  uncharitableness 
of  this  calumny  is  too  gross  to  escape  the  observation  of  any 
informed  and  reflecting  man :  yet  is  it  upheld  and  vociferated 
to  the  ignorant  crowd,  in  order  to  keep  alive  their  prejudices 
against  us,  by  bishop  Porteus,*  and  the  Protestant  preachers 
and  writers  in  general,  and  it  is  perpetuated  by  the  legislature 
to  defeat  our  civil  claims  If  It  is  not,  however,  true,  that  all 
Protestant  divines  have  laid  this  heavy  charge  at  the  door  of 
Catholics  for  worshipping  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  as  all  those 
eminent  prelates  in  the  reigns  of  Charles!,  and  Charles  II.  must 
be  excepted,  who  generally  acquitted  us  of  the  charge  of  idola- 
try, and  more  especially  the  learned  Gunning,  bishop  of  Ely, 
who  reprobated  the  above  signified  declaration^  when  it  was 
brought  into  the  house  of  lords,  protesting  that  his  conscience 
would  not  permit  him  to  make  it.|  The  candid  Thorndyke, 
prebendary  of  Westminster,  argues  thus  on  the  present  subject : 
*'  Will  any  Papist  acknowledge  that  he  honours  the  elements  of 
the  eucharist  for  God  P  Will  common  sense  charge  him  with 
honouring  that  in  the  sacrament,  which  he  docs  not  believe  to 
be  there  ?"<^  The  celebrated  bishop  of  Down,  Dr.  Jeremy  Tay- 
lor, reasons  with  equal  fairness,  where  he  says,  "  The  object  of 
their  (the  Catholics')  adoration  in  the  sacrament  is  the  only 
true  and  eternal  God,  hypostatically  united  with  his  holy  hu- 
manity, which  humanity  they  believe  actually  present  under  the 
veil  of  the  sacrament.  And  if  they  thought  him  not  present, 
they  are  so  far  from  worshipping  the  bread,  ihat  they  profess  it 
idolatry  to  do  so.  This  is  demonstration  that  the  soul  has  no- 
thing in  it  that  is  idolatricnl ;  the  will  has  nothing  in  it  but 
what  is  a  great  enemy  to  idolatry."|| 

The  other  instance  of  disingcnuity  and  injustice  on  the  pa""* 
of  Protestant  divines  and  statesmen  consists  in  their  overlookipg 
the  main  subject  in  debate,  namely,  whether  Christ  is  or  is  net 


^  ft 


♦  He  charges  Catholics  with  "  senseless  idolatry,"  and  with  worshipping  the 
creature  instead  of  the  Creator."  Confut,  P.  ii.  c  1. 

t  The  Dedaratitm  against  Popery^  by  which  Catholics  were  excluded  from  the 
Houses  of  Parliament,  was  voted  by  them  during  that  time  of  national  frenzy  and 
disgrace,  when  they  equally  voted  the  reality  of  the  pretended  Popish  Plot,  which 
cost  the  Catholics  a  torrent  of  innocent  blood,  and  which  was  hatched  by  the  un- 
principled Shaftesbury,  witli  the  help  of  Dr.  Tongue,  and  tlie  infamous  Oates;  to 
(trevcnt  the  succession  of  James  II.  to  the  crown.    See  Ecbard'^i  Hisit.  North's 

I  Burnet's  Hist  Own  Times. 

\  Just  Weights  and  Measures,  c.  19, 

0  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  Sect.  20. 


Letter  XXXVI. 


325 


*•  15,  and 
»nsequence 
ritabJeness 
ion  of  any 

ociferated 
prejudices 
preachers 
legislature 
that  a]) 
16  door  of 
all  those 
s  II.  must 
J  of  idola- 
p  of  Ely, 
en  it  was 
:onscience 
lorndyke, 
t  subject : 
ements  of 
him  with 
)elieve  to 
'.my  Tay- 
object  of 
the  only 
holy  hu- 
under  the 
t  present, 
profess  it 
1  has  no- 
in  it  but 

the  pa^-t 
rlookipg 
or  is  nU 

lipping  tLo 

d  from  the 
frenzy  ami 
'lot,  whicli 
by  the  un- 
i  Gates;  to 
it.  North's 


really  and  personally  present  m  the  sacrament;  and  in  the  mean 
time  employing  all  the  force  of  their  declamation  and  ridicule, 
and  all  the  severity  of  the  lav  '    a  point  of  inferior,  or  at  least 
secondary  consideration ;  namely,  to  the  mode  in  which  he  is 
considered  by  one  particular  party  as  being  present.     It  is  well 
known  that  Catholics  believe,  that,  when  Christ  took  the  bread 
and  gave  it  to  his  apostles,  saying,  THIS  IS  MY  BODY,  he 
changed  the  bread  into  his  body,  which  change  is  called  tran- 
substandation.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Lutherans,  after  their 
master,  hold  that  the  bread  and  the  real  body  of  Christ  are  mii' 
fed,  and  both  truly  present  in  the  sacrament,  as  iron  and  fire  are 
united  in  a  redhot  bar.*     This  sort  of  presence,  which  would 
be  not  less  miraculous  and  incomprehensible  than  transubstan> 
tiatlon,  is  called  consubsiantiaiion :  while  the  Calvinists  and 
church  of  England  men  in  general  (though  many  of  the  bright- 
est luminaries  of  the  latter  have  approached  to  the  CathoHc  doc- 
trine) maintain  that  Christ  is  barely  present  in  figure,  and  re- 
ceived only  by  faith.     Now  all  the  alleged  absurdities,  in  a 
manner,  and  all  the  pretended  impiety  and  idolatry,  which  are 
attributed  to  transubstantiationj  equally  attaches  to  consubstan- 
tiation  and  to  the  real  presence  professed  by  those  eminent  di- 
vines of  the  established  church.     Nevertheless,  what  controver- 
sial preacher  or  writer  ever  attacks  the  latter  opinions  ?     What 
law  excludes  Lutherans  from  parliament,   or  even  from  the 
throne  ."*     So  far  from  this,  a  chapel  royal  has  been  founded 
and  is  maintained  in  the  palace  itself  for  the  propagation  of 
their  consubstantlation  and  the  participation  of  their  real  pre- 
sence !     In  short,  you  may  say  with  Luther,  the  bread  is  the 
body  of  Christ,  or  with  Osiander,  the  bread  is  one  and  the  same 
person  with  Christ,  or  with  bishop  Cosin,  that  "  Christ  is  pre- 
sent really  and  substantially  by  an  incomprehensible  mystery,"* 
or  with  Dr.  Balguy,  that  there  is  no  mystery  at  all,  but  a  mere 
"  federal  rite,  barely  signifying  the  receiver's  acceptance  of  the 
benefit  of  redemption ;"  J  in  short,  you  may  say  any  thing  you 
please  concerning  the  eucharist,  without  obloquy  or  inconveni- 
ence to  yourself,  except  what  the  words  of  Christ,  this  is  my 
body,  so  clearly  imply,  namely,  that  he  changes  the  bread  into 
his  body.     In  fact,  as  the  bishop  o^  Meaux  observes,  "  the  de- 
clarations of  Christ  operate  what  they  express ;  when  he  speaks, 
nature  obeys,  and  he  does  what  he  says :  thus  he  cured  the 

*  De  Capt.  Babyl.  Osiander,  whose  sister,  Cranmer  married,  taught  Impanation, 
or  an  hypostatlcal  and  personal  union  of  the  bread  with  Christ's  body,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  a  person  might  truly  say :  This  bread  is  ChmVs  body, 

t  Hist,  of  Transub.  p.  44.  \  Cliarge  vii. 

2F 


.;:m 


H:,, 
I 

if! 


226 


Utter  XXXVIL 


ruler  s  son,  by  saying  to  him,  Thy  son  liveth  ;  and  the  crooked 
woman,  by  saying.  Thou  art  loosed  from  thy  infirmity"*  The 
prelate  adds,  for  our  further  observation,  that  Christ  did  not 
say.  My  body  is  here ;  this  contains  my  body^  but,  this  is  my 
body :  this  is  my  blood.  Hence  Zuinglius,  Calvin,  Beza,  and 
the  defenders  of  the  figurative  sense  in  general,  all  except  the 
Protestants  of  England,  have  expressly  confessed,  that,  admit- 
ting the  real  presence,  the  Catholic  doctrine  is  far  more  con- 
formable to  Scripture  than  the  Lutheran.  I  shall  finish  this  let- 
ter with  remarking,  that,  as  transubstantiation,  according  to  bi- 
shop Cosin,  was  the  first  of  Christ's  miracles  in  changing  water 
into  wine ;  so  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  his  last,  during  his 
mortal  course,  by  changing  bread  and  wine  into  his  sacred  body 
and  blood. 

(I  am,  S£c. 

'•  -  ■■  ■    :■•  1    .,   .  J.  M. 


.      LETTER  XXXVII. 
To  JAMES  BROWJV,  Esq. 

OJV  THE  REAL  PRESE.yrE  OF  CHRIST  iJV  THE  B. 
SJlCRiyfENT. 


Df.ar  Sir, 
It  is  clear  from  what  I  have  stated  in  my  last  letter  to  you, 
that  the  first  and  main  question  to  be  settled  between  Catholics 
and  church  Protestants  is  concerning  the  real  or  figurative  pre- 
tence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament.  This  being  determined,  il 
will  be  time  enough,  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  will  not  require  a 
long  time,  to  conclude  upon  the  manner  of  his  presence j  namely, 
whether  by  consubstantiation  or  transubstantiation.  To  con- 
sider the  authorized  exposition  or  catechism  of  the  er.cablished 
church,  it  might  appear  certain  that  she  herself  holds  the  real 
presence;  since  she  declares,  that  "  The  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  are  verily  and  indeed  taken  and  received  by  the  faithful 
in  the  Lord's  Supper."  To  this  declaration  I  alluded,  in  the 
first  place,  where  I  complained  of  Protestants  disguising  their 
real  tenets^  by  adopting  language  of  a  different  meaning  from 

•  Vwiat  T.  ii.  p.  34.  ,  ., 


Letter  XXXVII. 


227 


e  crooked 
"*    The 
t  did  not 
this  is  my 
ieia,  and 
except  the 
at,  admit- 
nore  con- 
Ii  this  let- 
ing  to  bi- 
ding water 
during  his 
cred  body 


J.  M. 


E  B. 


er  to  you, 
Catiiolics 
rative  pre- 
rmined,  il 
;  require  a 
B,  namely, 
To  con- 
ir.cablished 
Is  the  real 
I  blood  of 
he  faithful 
ed,  in  the 
sing  their 
ling  from 


their  sentiments,  and  conformable  to  those  of  Catholics,  in  con- 
sequence of  such  being  the  language  of  the  sacred  text.  In  fact, 
it  is  certain  and  confessed,  that  she  does  not,  after  all,  believe 
ike  real  body  and  blood  to  be  in  the  supper,  but  mere  bread 
and  wine,  as  the  same  catechism  declares.  This  involves  an 
evident  contradiction  j  it  is  saying,  you  receive  thai  in  the  sacra- 
meut,  which  does  not  exist  in  the  sacrament  :*  it  is  like  the  speech 
of  a  debtor,  who  should  say  to  his  creditor,  /  hereby  verily  and 
indeed  pay  you  the  money  I  owe  you  ;  but  I  have  not  verily  and 
indeed  the  money  to  pay  you  with. 

Nothing  proves  more  clearly  the  fallacy  of  the  Calvinists  and 
other  dissenters,  as  likewise  of  the  established  church  men  in 
general,  who  profess  to  make  the  Scripture,  in  its  plain  and 
literal  sense,  the  sole  rule  of  their  faith,  than  their  denial  of  the 
real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  which  is  so  manifestly 
and  emphatically  expressed  therein.  He  explained  and  pro- 
mised this  divine  mystery  near  one  of  the  Paschs,  John  vi.  4^ 
previous  to  his  institution  of  it.  He  then  multiplied  five  loaves 
and  two  fishes,  so  as  to  afford  a  superabundant  meal  to  five 
thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children.  Mat.  xiv.  21 ; 
which  was  an  evident  sign  of  the  future  multiplication  of  his 
own  body  on  the  several  altars  of  the  world ;  after  which  he 
took  occasion  to  speak  of  this  mystery,  by  saying,  /  am  the  liv- 
ing  bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven.    If  any  man  eat  oj 


*  Dryden,  in  his  Hind  and  Panther,  ridicules  this  inconsistency  as  follows: 
"  The  literal  sense  is  hard  to  iiesh  and  blood ; 
"  But  nonsense  never  could  be  understood." 
Even  Dr.  Hej  calls  this  "  an  unsteadiness  of  language  and  a  seeming  inconsist* 
ency."    Lect.  vol.  iv.  p.  338. 

N,  B,  It  is  curious  to  trace  in  the  Liturgy  of  the  Established  church  her  variations 
on  this  most  important  point  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  sacrament.  The  first 
communion  service,  drawn  up  by  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  other  Protestant  bishops 
and  divines,  and  published  in  1548,  clearly  expresses  the  real  presence,  and  that 
*'  the  whole  body  of  Christ  is  received  under  each  particle  of  the  sacrument" 
Burnet,  P.  ii.  b.  1. 

Afterwards,  when  the  Calvinistic  party  prevailed,  the  29th  of  the  42  Articles  o! 
Religion,  drawn  up  bv  the  same  prelates  and  published  in  1552,  expressly  denies* 
the  real  presence,  and  the  very  possibility  of  Christ  being  in  the  Eucharist,  since 
he  has  ascended  up  to  heaven.  Ten  years  afterwards,  Elizabeth  being  on  the 
throne,  who  patronized  the  real  presence,  (see  Heylin,  p.  124,)  when  the  42  Arti- 
cles were  reduced  to  39,  this  declaration  against  the  real  and  corporal  presence  of 
Christ  was  left  out  of  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  for  the  purpose  of  comprehend- 
ing those  persons  who  believed  in  it,  as  was  the  whole  of  the  former  rubric,  which 
explained  that  "  by  kneeling  at  the  sacrament  no  adoration  was  intended  to  any 
corporal  presence  of  Christ's  natural  flesh  and  blood."  Burnet,  P.  ii.  p.  392.  So 
the  liturgy  stood  for  just  100  years,  when,  in  1662,  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
among  other  alterations  of  the  liturgy,  which  then  took  place,  the  old  rubrie 
•l^ainst  the  real  presence  and  the  adoration  of  the  sacrament  was  again  restored  as 
it  stands  at  present  I 


m 


i«8 


Letier  XXXVII. 


■  Hi 


IMI 


this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever :  and  the  Iread  that  I  will  ght^ 
is  myjleshf  for  the  life  of  the  world.  John  vi.  51.  The  sacred 
text  goes  on  to  inform  us  of  the  perplexity  of  the  Jews,  from 
their  understanding  Christ's  words  in  their  plain  and  natural 
sense,  which  he,  so  far  from  removing  by  a  difl'erent  explanation, 
confirms  by  expressing  that  sense  in  other  terms  still  more  eni- 
phatical.  The  Jews  therefore  strove  amongst  themselves,  saying, 
How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  9  Then  Jesus  said  unto 
them:  T^erily, verily,  I  say  unto  you:  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.— -For 
my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.  Ver.  52, 
53,  55.  Nor  was  it  the  multitude  alone  who  took  offence  at 
this  mystery  of  a  real  and  corporal  reception  of  Christ's  person, 
so  energetically  and  repeatedly  expressed  by  him,  but  also 
several  of  his  own  beloved  disciples,  whom  certainly  he  would 
not  have  permitted  to  desert  him  to  their  own  destruction,  if  he 
could  have  removed  their  difficulty  by  barely  telling  them  tl^at 
they  were  only  to  receive  him  by  faith,  and  to  take  bread  and 
wine  in  remembrance  of  him.  Yet  this  merciful  Saviour  per- 
mitted them  to  go  their  ways,  and  he  contented  himself  with 
asking  the  apostles,  if  they  would  also  leave  him.  They  were 
as  incapable  of  comprehending  the  mystery  as  the  others  were, 
but  they  were  assured  that  Christ  is  ever  to  be  credited  upon 
his  word,  and  accordingly  they  made  that  generous  act  of  faith, 
which  every  true  Christian  will  also  make,  who  seriously  and 
devoutly  considers  the  sacred  text  before  us.  Many  therefore  of 
his  disciples,  when  they  had  heard  this,  said :  This  is  a  hard  say- 
ing :  who  can  hear  it  9  From  that  lime  many  of  his  disciples 
went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  him.  Then  Jesus  said  unto 
the  twelve :  will  ye  also  go  away  9  Then  Simom  Peter  answered 
him:  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life.  Ver.  60, 66, 67, 68.  .-;  ,/ 

The  apostles  thus  instructed  by  Christ's  express  and  repeated 
declaration,  as  to  the  nature  of  this  sacrament,  when  he  pro- 
mised it  to  them,  were  prepared  for  the  sublime  simplicity  of 
his  words  in  instituting  it.  For,  whilst  they  were  at  supper,  Je- 
sus took  bread,  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  dis- 
ciples, and  said :  take  ye  and  eat :  THIS  IS  MY  BODY.  And 
taking  the  chalice,  he  s;ave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying : 
drink  ye  all  of  this;  FOR  THIS  IS  MY  BLOOD  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMEiNT,  WHICH  SHALL  BE  SHED  FOR 
MANY  UNTO  THE  REMISSION  OF  SINS.  Mat.  xxvi. 
26,  27,  28.  This  account  of  St.  Matthew  is  repeated  by  St. 
Mark,  xiv.  22,  23,24,  and,  nearly  word  for  word,  by  St.  Luke, 


Letter  XXXVIL 


229 


will  givt 
lie  sacred 
Bws,  from 
i  natural 
lanation, 
nore  em- 
sayingj 
said  unto 
esh  of  the 
m. — For 
Ver.  52, 
ffence  at 
s  person, 
but  also 
he  would 
on,  if  he 
hem  tl]at 
read  and 
iour  per- 
self  with 
hey  were 
ers  were, 
ited  upon 
t  of  faith, 
>usly  and 
zrefore  of 
hard  say- 
disciples 
mid  unto 
answered 
f  eternal 

repeated 

he  pro- 

)licity  of 

pper,  Je- 

the  dis- 

»Y.  And 

saying : 

V  THE 

D  FOR 

it.  XX vi. 

1  by  St. 

t.  Luke, 


xxii.  19,  20,  and  St.  Paul,  1  Cor.  xi.  23,  24,  25  ;  who  adds: 
Therefore  whoever  shall  eat  this  bread,  or  drink  the  chalice  oj 
the  Lord  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  of  the  blood 
of  the  Lord — and  eateth  and  drinketh  judgment  (the  Protestant 
Bible  says  damnation)  to  himself.  1  Cor.  xi.  27,  29. 

To  the  native  evidence  of  these  texts  I  shall  add  but  two 
words.  First,  supposing  it  possible  that  Jesus  Christ  had  de- 
ceived the  Jews  of  Capharnaum,  and  even  his  disciples  and  his 
very  apostles,  in  the  solemn  asseverations  which  he,  six  times 
over,  repeated  of  his  real  and  corporal  presence  in  the  sacra- 
ment, when  he  promised  to  institute  it ;  can  any  one  believe 
that  he  would  continue  the  deception  on  his  dear  apostles  in 
the  very  act  of  instituting  it  .'*  and  when  he  was  on  the  point  of 
leaving  them  ?  in  short,  when  he  was  bequeathing  them  the 
legacy  of  his  love?  In  the  next  place,  what  propriety  is.  there 
in  St.  Paul's  heavy  denunciations  of  profaning  Christ's  person, 
and  of  damnation,  on  the  part  of  unworthy  communicants,  if 
they  partook  of  it  only  by  faith  and  in  figure  ?  for,  after  all,  the 
Paschal  Lamb,  which  the  people  of  God  had,  by  his  command, 
every  year  eat  since  their  deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  and  which 
the  apostles  themselves  eat,  before  they  received  the  blessed  eu- 
charist,  was,  as  a  mere  figure,  and  an  incitement  to  faith,  far 
more  striking,  than  eating  and  drinking  bread  and  wine  are : 
hence  the  guilt  of  profaning  the  Paschal  Lamb,  and  the  nume- 
rous other  figures  of  Christ,  would  not  be  less  heinous  than  pro- 
faning the  sacrament,  if  he  were  not  really  there. 

I  should  write  a  iui52;e  folio  volume,  were  I  to  transcribe  all 
the  authorities  in  pn>of  of  the  real  presence  and  transubstantia- 
tion  which  may  be  collected  from  the  ancient  fathers,  councils 
and  historians,  anterior  to  the  origin  of  these  doctrines  assigned 
by  the  bishops  of  London*  and  Lincoln.  The  latter,  who 
speaks  more  precisely  on  the  subject,  says,  "  The  idea  of 
Christ's  bodily  presence  in  the  eucharist  was  first  started  in  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century.  In  the  twpjfth  century,  the 
actual  change  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  uody  and  blood  of 
Christ,  by  the  consecration  of  the  priest,  was  pronounced  to  be 
a  Gospel  truth.  The  first  writer  who  maintained  it  was  Pasca- 
sius  Radbert.  It  is  said  to  have  been  brought  into  England  by 
Lanfranc."f  What  will  the  learned  men  of  Europe,  who  are 
versed  in  ecclesiastical  literature,  think  of  the  state  of  this  sci- 
ence in  England,  should  they  hear  that  such  positions  as  these, 
have  been  published  by  one  of  its  most  celebrated  prelates  ?     1 


r,, 

m 


f^: 


I 


mi.  ■ 


♦  Page  38. 


t  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p.  380. 


^,; 


230 


LutUt  XXXVU. 


have  assigned  the  cause  why  I  must  content  myself  with  afm 
of  the  numberless  documents  which  present  themselves  to  me  in 
refutation  of  such  bold  assertions.     St.  Ignatius,  then,  an  apos- 
tolical bishop  of  the  first  century,  describing  certain  contempo- 
rary heretics,  says,  "  They  do  not  admit  of  eucharists  and  ob- 
lations, because  they  do  not  believe  the  eucharist  to  be  the  flesh 
of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered  for  our  sins."*    I 
pass  over  the  testimonies,  to  the  same  eflect,  of  St.  Justin  mar- 
tyr,f  St.  Iren£Eus,f   St.  Cyprian,<§   and  other  fathers  of  the 
second  and  third  centuries ;  but  will  quote  the  following  words 
from  Origen,  because  the  prelate  appeals  to  his  authority,  in 
another  passage,  which  is  nothing  at  all  to  the  purpose.     He 
says,  then,  "  Manna  was  formerly  given,  as  a  figure ;  but  now, 
the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  is  specifically  given,  and 
is  real  food."|(     I  must  omit  the  clear  and  beautiful  testimonies 
for  the  Catholic  doctrine,  which  St.  Hilary,  St.  Basil,  St.  John 
Chrysostom,  St.  Jerom,  St.  Austin,  and  a  number  of  other  il- 
lustrious doctors  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  ages  furnish ;  but  I  ca|i- 
not  pass  over  those  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  and  St.  Ambrose 
of  Alilan,  because  these  occurring  in  catechetical  discourses  or 
expositions  of  the  Christian  doctrine  to  their  young  neophytes, 
muat  evidently  be  understood  in  the  most  plain  and  literal  sense 
they  can  bear.    The  former  says,  "  Since  Christ  himself  affirms 
tiius  of  the  bread,  This  is  my  body ;  who  is  so  daring  as  to 
doubt  of  it  ?     And  since  he  affirms,  This  is  my  blood  ;  who  will 
deny  that  it  is  his  blood  ?     At  Cana  of  Galilee,  he,  by  an  act 
of  his  will,  turned  water  into  wine,  which  resembles  blood ;  and 
is  h"  not  then  to  be  credited  when  he  changes  wine  into  blood.'' 
Therefore,  full  of  certainty,  let  us  receive  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ:  for,  under  the  form  of  bread,  is  given  to  thee  his 
body,  and,  under  the  form  of  wine,  his  blood."1F     St.  Ambrose 
thus  argues  with  his  spiritual  children,  "  Perhaps  you  will  say, 
Why  do  you  tell  me  that  I  receive  the  body  of  Christ,  when  1 
see  quite  another  thing  ?  We  have  this  point  therefore  to  prove. 
How  many  examples  do  we  produce  to  show  you,  that  this  is 
not  what  nature  made  it,  but  what  the  benediction  has  conse- 
crated it ;  and  that  the  benediction  is  of  greater  force  than  na- 
ture, because,  by  the  benediction,   nature  itself  is  changed ! 
Moses  cast  his  rod  on  the  ground,  and  it  became  a  serpent ;  he 
caught  hold  of  the  serpent's  tail,  and  it  reco^'ercd  the  nature  of 
a  rod.     The  rivers  of  Egypt,  &c.     Thou  hast  read  of  the  crea- 


•  Ep.  Bd  Smyrn. 
^  £p.  54  ad  Corucl. 


t  Apoloj.  to  Emp.  Antonin,  t  L.  v.  c.  11. 

U  Horn.  7.  ill  Lcvit.  U  Catcch.  Mystagog.  4' 


Letter  XXXVII. 


231 


nih  a  few 
s  to  me  in 
an  apos- 
ontempo- 
s  and  ob- 
the  flesh 
ins."*    I 
istin  mar- 
rs  of  the 
ng  words 
hority,  in 
ose.     He 
but  now, 
iven,  and 
stimonies 
St.  Joiiu 
other  il- 
)ut  I  cap- 
Ambrose 
ourses  or 
jophytcs, 
;ral  sense 
If  affirms 
Jg  as  to 
who  will 
»y  an  act 
od;  and 
9  blood.'' 
nd  blood 
thee  hia 
fVmbrose 
will  say, 
,  when  1 
o  prove, 
iit  this  is 
s  conse- 
than  na- 
lianged ! 
lent ;  he 
lature  of 
he  crea- 


^c.ll. 

■slagog.  4- 


tion  of  the  world :  If  Christ,  by  his  word,  was  able  to  make 
something  out  of  nothing,  shall  he  not  be  thought  able  to  change 
one  thing  into  another  .?"*  But  I  have  quoted  enough  from 
the  ancient  fathers  to  refute  the  rash  assertions  of  the  two  mo- 
dern bishops. 

True  it  is  that  Pascasius  Radbcrt,  an  abbot  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, Writing  a  treatise  on  the  eucharist,  for  the  instruction  of 
his  novices,  maintains  the  real  Corporal  presence  of  Christ  in  itj 
but  so  far  from  teaching  a  novelty,  he  professes  to  say  nothing 
but  what  all  the  world  believes  and  professes. f     The  truth  of 
this  appeared,  when   Berengarius,   in   the  eleventh   century, 
among  other  errors,  denied  the  real  presence  j  for  then  the 
whole  church  rose  up  against  him  :  he  was  attacked  by  a  whole 
host  of  eminent  writers,  and  among  others  by  our  archbishop 
Lanfranc}  all  of  whom,  in  their  respective  works,  appeal  to  the 
belief  of  all  nations ;  and  Berengarius  was  condemned  in  no  less 
than  eleven  councils.     I  have  elsewhere  shown  the  absolute  im- 
possibility of  the  Christians  of  all  the  nations  in  the  world  being 
persuaded  into  a  belief,  of  that  sacrament  which  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  receiving,  being  the  living  Christ,  if  tiiey  had  be- 
fore held  it  to  be  nothing  but  an  inanimate  memorial  of  himj 
though,  even  b}'  another  impossibihty,  all  the  clergy  of  the  na- 
tions were  to  combine  together  for  cA'ecting  this.    On  the  otiicr 
hand  it  is  incontcstibJc,  and  has  been  carried  to  the  highest  de- 
gree of  moral  evidence,  J  that  all  the  Christians  of  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  world,  Greeks  as  well  as  Latins,  Africans  as  well  as 
Europeans,  except  Protestants  and  a  handful  of  Vaudois  pea- 
sants have,  ill  all  ages,  believed  and  still  believe  in  the  real 
presence  and  transubstantiation. 

I  am  now,  dear  sir,  about  tt^  produce  evidence  of  a  dliTcrent 
nature,  I  mean  R'otestant  eviti  -nee,  for  the  main  point  under 
consideration,  die  real  jM'esencc.  jNly  first  wilness  is  no  other 
llian  the  fiither  of  the  pretended  Reformation,  Martin  Luther 
liiniself.  I/o  Iclls  us  how  veiy  desirous  he  was,  and  how  inucli 
tie  laboured  in  his  mind  to  overthrow  this  doctrine,  because, 
Rays  he,  (obso-ve  his  motive,)  "  T  clearly  saw  how  much  I 
should  thereby  Injure  Po|)cry  ;  but  I  found  myself  cani-ht,  with- 
out any  way  rf  escMping:  for  the  text  of  the  (^os])cl  was  too 
plain  for  this  purncjo.''^^  Hence  he  continued,  till  his  death,  to 

♦  T)e  his  qui  INfyst.  \\^\\.  r.  0. 

t  "  Quod  lotus  oiliis  ii-oilit  <'tronfitr(nr."     Soc  frrpcfuit''  <!o  I;i  Foi. 

t  Sec  in  [uirticuliir  the  last  nutiicd  victorious  work,  wliicli  hiis  proved  the  ron- 
Vr.rsion  of  miuiy  Prolestants, niid  aniotiff  the  \v\\  of  u distitiivuishrc} churrhiuan  uow 
IWinf.  ^  Epiitt.  ud  Ar^cittcn.  loin.  4.  fol.  b^'l,  Ed.  Willcu. 


■*  r 


'h.  I 


333 


X  Letter  XXXVII. 


condemn  those  Protestants  who  denied  the  corporal  presence, 
employing  for  this  purpose  sometimes  the  shafts  of  his  coarse 
ridicule,*  and  sometimes  the  thunder  of  his  vehement  declama- 
tion and  anathemas.f  To  speak  now  of  former  eminent  bi- 
shops and  divines  of  the  establishment  in  this  country ;  it  is 
evident  from  their  works  that  many  of  them  believe  firmly  in  the 
real  presence,  such  as  the  bishops  Andrews,  Bilson,  Morton, 
Laud,  Montague,  Sheldon,  Gunning,  Forbes,  Bramhall  and 
Cosin,  to  whom  I  shall  add  the  justly  esteemed  divine,  Hooker, 
the  testimonies  of  whom,  for  the  real  presence,  are  as  explicit 
as  Catholics  themselves  can  wish  them  to  be.  I  will  transcribe 
in  the  margin  a  few  words  from  each  of  the  three  last  named 
authors. J  The  near,  or  rather  close  approacli  .jf  these  and 
other  eminent  Protestant  divines  to  the  constant  doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  church,  on  this  principal  subject  of  modern  contro- 
versy, is  evidently  to  be  ascribed  to  the  perspicuity  and  force 
of  the  declaration  of  Holy  Scripture  concerning  it.  As  to  the 
holy  fathers,  they  received  this,  with  her  other  doctrines,  fro  n 
the  apostles,  independently  of  Scripture :  for,  before  even  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel  was  promulgated,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass 
was  celebrated,  and  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  distributed  to 
the  faithful  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  known  world. 

In  finishing  this  letter  I  must  make  an  important  remark  on 


*  In  one  place  he  says,  that  "  The  Devil  seems  to  have  mocked  those,  to  whom 
he  has  suggested  a  heresy  so  ridiculous  and  contrary  to  Scripture,  as  that  of  the 
Zuinglians,"  who  explained  away  the  words  of  the  institution  in  a  figurative  way. 
He  elsewhere  compares  these  glosses  with  the  following  translation  of  the  first 
words  of  Scripture  :  In  principio  Deus  creavit  c(tluy\\  el  tcram-.—In  Ihe  beginning 
the  cuckoo  eat  the  sparroic  and  his  feathers.  Def.  Verb.  D<;m. 

t  On  one  occasion  he  calls  those  who  deny  the  real  and  corporal  presence ;  "A 
damned  sect,  lying  heretics,  bread-breakers,  Avine-drinktrs,  and  soul-destroyers." 
In  Parv.  Catech.  On  other  occasions  he  says :  "  They  are  indcvilized  and  supcr- 
devilized."  Finally  he  devotes  them  to  everlasting  tiamos,  and  builds  his  own 
hopes  of  finding  mercy  at  the  tribunal  of  Christ  on  his  liavir.i;,  with  all  his  soul, 
condemned  Carlostad,  Zuinglius,  and  other  believers  in  the  symbolical  presence. 

t  Bishop  Bramhall  writes  thus ;  "  No  genuine  son  of  the  cliuich  (of  England) 
did  ever  deny  a  true,  real  presence.  Christ  said  :  This  is  my  body,  and  what  he 
said  wc  steadfastly  believe.  He  said  neither  CON  nor  SUB  nor  TRANS  :  there- 
fore we  place  those  among  the  opinions  of  srhools,  not  among  articles  of  faith." 

Answer  to  Militiaire,  p.  74. Bisliop  Cosin  is  not  less  explicit  in  favour  of  (he 

Catholic  doctrine,  lie  says :  "  It  is  a  monstrous  error  to  deny  that  Christ  is  to  be 
adored  in  the  eucharist  We  confess  the  necessity  of  a  Bupcrnatural  and  heavenly 
change,  and  that  the  signs  cannot  become  sacraments  but  by  the  infinite  power  of 
God.  If  any  one  make  a  bare  figure  of  the  sncrainrnt,  we  ought  not  to  sulli-r  liim 
in  our  eliurcbes."  Hist,  of  Transub.  Lastly,  tin-  profound  Hooker  exprcssci 
himself  thus  ;  "  I  wish  men  would  give  themselves  more  to  meditate,  with  si!enre,on 
what  we  have  in  the  sacrament,  and  less  to  dispute  of  the  manner  how,  Sith  we 
all  agree  that  Christ,  by  the  saerament,  doth  really  and  truly  |)orform  in  us  Ills 
promise,  why  do  w  vainly  trouble  ourselves  with  so  iierie  contentions  whether 
by  consub*tanliation,  or  else  by  transubstanlialion  ?"    Ecclcs.  Polit.  B.  T,  67. 


Letter  XXXVIL 


233 


presence, 
his  coarse 
:  declama- 
ninent  bi- 
itryj  it  is 
mly  in  the 
,  Morton, 
ohall  and 
,  Hooker, 
IS  explicit 
transcribe 
ast  named 
these  and 
ine  of  the 
•n  contro- 
and  force 
As  to  the 
ines,  fro  Ti 
I  even  St. 

the  mass 
ributcd  to 
Id. 
emark  on 


)8c,  to  whom 
s  that  of  the 
urative  way, 
of  the  first 
\he  beginning 

resence;  "A 
-destroyers." 
d  and  super- 
ilds  his  own 
I  all  his  soul, 
al  presence, 
of  Eng;Ianfl) 
and  what  he 
VNS  :  there- 
cs  of  faitli." 
'avour  of  (he 
hrist  is  to  he 
ind  iiouvciily 
ite  power  of 
o  sulUir  him 
'r  cxprcs.sci 
h  sihMin',011 
10.  Silh  wt! 
'in  ill  UK  his 
3ns  whctlicr 
i.  y.  67. 


the  object  or  end  of  the  institution  of  the  blessed  sacrament . 
this  our  divine  master  tells  us  was  to  communicate  a  new  and 
special  grace,  or  life,  as  he  calls  it,  to  us  his  disciples  of  the 
new  law.  The  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  Jlesk,for  the  life  of 
the  world.  As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the 
Father ;  so  he  that  eateth  me,  the  same  shall  also  live  by  me. 
This  is  the  bread  that  came  down  from  heaven :  not  as  your  fa- 
thers did  eat  manna,  and  are  dead :  he  that  eateth  this  bread 
shall  live  for  ever.  John  vi.  52,  58,  59.  He  explains,  in  the 
same  passage,  the  particular  nature  of  this  spiritual  life,  and 
shows  in  what  it  consists,  namely,  in  an  intimate  union  with  him, 
where  he  says,  He  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood, 
abideth  in  me  and  1  in  him.  Ver.  57.  Now  the  servants  of  God, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  had  striking  figures  and  me- 
morials of  the  promised  Messiah,  the  participation  of  which,  by 
faith  and  devotion,  was,  in  a  limited  degree,  beneficial  to  their 
souls ;  such  were  the  tree  of  life,  the  various  sacrifices  of  tl»e 
patr-firchs  and  those  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  but  more  particularly 
tht  i  *  il  Lamb,  the  loaves  of  proposition,  and  the  manna  of 
whi:  '.rist  here  speaks:  still,  these  signs,  in  their  very  insti- 
tution, were  so  many  promises,  on  the  part  of  God,  that  he 
would  bestow  upon  his  people  the  thing  signified  by  them ;  even 
that  intimate  Deity,  who  is  at  once  our  victim  and  our  food, 
and  wi.  .  gives  spiritual  life  to  the  worthy  communicants,  not 
m  a  limited  measure,  but  indefinitely,  according  to  each  one's 
preparation.  The  same  tender  love  which  made  him  shroud 
the  rays  of  his  divinity  and  take  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  ser-- 
vant,  and  the  likeness  of  man,  in  his  incarnation;  and  become  as 
a  worm  and  not  a  man,  the  reproach  of  men  and  the  outcast  of 
the  people,  in  his  immolation  on  Mount  Calvary,  has  caused 
him  to  descend  a  step  lower,  and  to  conceal  his  human  nature 
also,  under  the  veils  of  our  ordinary  nourishment,  that  thus  we 
may  be  able  to  salute  him  with  our  mouths  and  lodge  him  in 
our  breasts;  in  order  that  we  may  thus,  each  one  of  us,  abide 
in  htm  and  he  abide  in  us,  for  the  life  of  our  souls.  No  won- 
der that  Protestants,  who  are  strangers  to  these  heavenly  truths, 
and  who  are  still  immersed  in  the  cloud'*  of  types  and  figures, 
not  pretending  to  any  thing  more  in  thei  sacrament,  than  what 
the  Jews  possessed  in  their  ordinances,  s!  ould  be  comparatively 
so  indiflerent,  as  to  the  preparation  for  receiving  it,  and,  indeed, 
tion  of  it  at  all !    No  wonder  tl 


:cpti 


G 


many  of  them. 


*\ « 


234 


Letter  XXXVIII 


and  among  thereatAnthonyUlric,  duke  of  Brunswick,*  should 
have  reconciled  ihemseJves  to  the  Catholic  church,  chiefly  for 
the  benefit  of  exchanging  the  figure  for  the  substance  j  *he  bare 
memorial  of  Christ,  for  his  adorable  body  and  blood. 
\ '^  *     I  am,  &c. 

J.  M. 


VU 


LETTER  XXXVIII.  . 

To  ike  Rev.  ROBER  T  CLA  YTON,  M.  A, 

V      ;  OBJECTION'S  JJfSWERED. 

Rev.  Sir,  ' 

Though  I  had  not  received  the  letter  with  which  you  have 
honoured  me,  it  was  my  intention  to  write  to  Mr.  Brown,  by 
way  of  answering  bishop  Porteus's  objections  against  the  Ca- 
tholic doctrine  of  the  blessed  eucharist.  As  you,  Rev.  sir,  have 
in  some  manner  adopted  those  objections,  I  address  my  answer 
to  you. 

You  begin  with  the  bishop's  arguments  from  Scripture,  and 
Bay,  that  the  same  divine  personage  who  says,  TaJcCy  eat,  this  is 
my  body,  elsewhere  calls  himself  a  door  and  a  vine :  hence  yon 
argue,  that,  as  the  two  latter  terms  are  metaphorical,  so  the 
first  is  also,  I  grant  that  Christ  makes  use  of  metaphors  when 
he  calls  himself  a  door  and  a  vine ;  but  then  he  explains  that 
they  are  metaphors,  by  saying,  /  am  the  door  of  the  sheep,  by 
me  if  any  man  enter  he  shall  be  saved,  John  x.  9 ;  and  again,  i 
am  the  vine,  you  the  branches :  he  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  m 
him,  beareth  much  fruit :  for  without  me  you  can  do  nothing, 
John  XV.  5.  But,  in  the  institution  of  the  sacrament,  though  he 
was  then  making  his  last  will,  and  bequeathing  that  legacy  to 
his  children  which  he  had  in  his  promise  of  it  assured  them 
should  me  meat  indeed,  and  drink  indeed  ;  not  a  word  falls  from 
him  to  signify  that  his  legacy  is  not  to  be  understood  in  the 
plain  sense  of  the  terms  he  makes  use  of.  Hence  those  incre- 
dulous Christians,  who  insist  on  allegorizing  the  texts  in  ques- 
tion, (professing  at  the  same  time  to  make  the  plain  nuturu) 

•  Lettres  d'un  Dootcur  AUomand,  par  Scheinnatker,  vol.  i.  p.  3IW. 


Letter  XXXFIIL 


23& 


sense  of  Scripture  their  only  rule  of  faith,)  may  allegorize  every 
other  part  of  the  Holy  Writ,  as  ridiculously  as  Luther  has 
translated  the  first  words  of  Genesis ;  and  thus  gain  no  certain 
knowledge  from  any  part  of  it.  His  lordship  adds,  that  the 
apostles  did  not  understand  this  institution  literally,  as  they 
asked  no  questions,  nor  expressed  any  surprise  concerning  it. 
True,  they  did  not :  but  then  they  had  been  present  on  a  for- 
mer occasion,  at  a  scene  in  which  the  Jews,  and  even  many  of  the 
disciples,  expressed  great  surprise  at  the  annunciation  of  this 
mystery,  and  asked.  How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat9 
On  that  occasion  we  know  that  Christ  tried  the  faith  of  his 
apostles,  as  to  this  mystery  ;  when  they  generously  answered, 
Lordf  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life. 

You.  may  quote,  after  Dr.  Porteus,  Christ's  answer  to  the 
murmur  of  the  Jews  on  this  subject:  Doth  this  offend  you9  If 
then  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  up  where  he  was  be- 
fore 9  It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth  ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing. 
The  words  that  I  have  spoken  to  you  are  spirit  and  life.  John  vi. 
63,  64.  To  this  I  answer,  that  if  there  were  an  apparent  con- 
tradiction between  this  passage  and  those  others  in  the  same 
chapter,  in  which  Christ  so  expressly  affirms,  that  his  flesh  is 
MEAT  INDEED,  and  his  blood  drink  indeed,  it  would  only  prove 
more  clearly  the  necessity  of  inquiring  into  the  doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  church  ccncerning  them.  But  there  is  no  such  ap- 
pearance of  contradiction ;  on  the  contrary,  our  controvertists 
draw  an  argument  from  the  first  part  of  this  passage,  in  favour 
of  the  real  presence.^  The  utmost  that  can  be  deduced  from 
the  remaining  part  is,  that  Christ's  inanimate  fiesh,  manducated, 
like  that  of  animals,  according  to  the  gross  idea  of  the  Jews, 
would  not  confer  the  spiritual  life  which  he  speaks  of:  though 
some  of  the  fathers  understand  these  words,  not  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  but  of  our  unenlightened  natural  reason, 
in  contradistinction  to  inspired  faith,  in  which  sense  Christ  says 
to  St.  Peter,  Blessed  art  thou^  because  flesh  and  hlood  has  not 
revealed  this  to  thee^  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  Mat.  xvi. 
17.  You  add  from  St  Luke,  that  Christ  says  in  the  very  insti- 
tution, Do  this  in  memory  of  me.  Luke  xxii.  19.  I  answer, 
that  neither  here  is  there  any  contradiction  :  for  the  eucharist  is 
both  a  memorial  of  Christ  and  the  real  presence  of  Christ. 
When  a  person  stands  visibly  before  us,  we  have  no  need  of  any 
sign  to  call  him  to  our  memory ;  but  if  he  were  present  in  such 


iff' 


I   : 


I 


*  VciM  dc  la  ReUf.  Cat  prourte  par  PEcriture,  par  M.  Dei  Mabis,  p.  168. 


836 


Letter  XXXVIU. 


manner  as  to  be  concealed  from  all  our  senses,  without  a  me- 
morial of  him,  we  might  as  easily  forget  him,  as  if  he  were  at  a 
great  distance  from  us.  These  words  of  Christ,  then,  which  we 
always  repeat  at  the  consecration,  and  the  very  sight  of  the 
sacramental  species,  serve  for  this  purpose.     *  ■"■>•'  i 

The  objections,  however,  which  you.  Rev.  sir,  and  bishop 
Porteus  chiefly  insist  upon,  are  the  testimony  of  our  senses. 
Yor  '>of  ,  say,  the  bread  and  wine  are  seen,  and  touched,  and 
tai.  J  in  our  sacrament,  the  same  as  in  yours.  "  If  we  cannot 
be)ieve  our  senses,"  the  bishop  says,  "  we  can  believe  nothing." 
This  was  a  good  popular  topic  for  archbishop  Tillotson,  from 
whom  it  is  borrowed,  to  flourish  upon  in  the  pulpit,  but  it  will 
not  stand  the  test  of  Christian  theology.  It  would  undermine 
the  incarnation  itself.  With  equal  reason  the  Jews  said  of 
Christ,  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son  9  Is  not  his  mother  called 
Mary?  Mat.  xiii.  55.  Hence  they  concluded  that  he  was  not 
what  he  proclaimed  himself  to  be,  the  Son  of  God.  In  like 
manner,  Josuah  thought  he  saw  a  man,  Josuah  v.  13,  and  Jacob, 
that  he  touched  one.  Gen.  xxxii.  24,  and  Abraham  that  he  eat 
with  three  men.  Gen.  xviii.  8,  when  in  all  these  instances  there 
were  no  real  men,  but  unbodied  spirits,  present ;  the  diflerent 
senses  of  those  patriarchs  misleading  them.  Again,  were  not 
the  eyes  of  the  disciples,  going  to  Emmaus,  held  so  that  they 
should  not  know  Jesus  9  Luke  xxiv.  16.  Did  not  the  same 
thing  happen  to  Mary  Magdalen  and  the  apostles  ?  John  xx.  15. 
But  independently  of  Scripture,  philosophy  and  experience 
show  that  there  is  no  essential  connexion  between  our  sensations 
and  the  objects  which  occasion  them,  and  that,  in  fact,  each  of 
our  senses  frequently  deceives  us.  How  unreasonable  then  is 
it,  as  well  as  impiou?;  to  oppose  their  fallible  testimony  to  God's 
infallible  word  !* 

But,  the  bishop,  as  you  remind  me,  undertakes  to  show  that 
there  are  absurdities  and  contradictions  in  the  doctrine  of  tran- 
jubstantiation  ;  he  ought  to  have  said  of  the  real  presence :  for 
every  one  of  his  alleged  contradictions  is  equally  found  in  the 
Lutheran  consubstantiation,  in  the  belief  of  which  our  gracious 
queen  was  educated,  and  in  the  corporal  presence,  held  by  so 


♦  For  example,  we  think  we  «ee  the  setting  sun  in  a  line  with  our  eyes,  but  phi* 
kMophy  demonstrates  that  a  largo  portion  of  the  terraqueous  globe,  is  interposed 
•^>mrten  them,  and  that  the  sun  is  18  degrees  below  the  horizon.  As  we  trust 
nvre  lu  our  feeling  than  to  any  other  sense :  let  any  person  cause  his  neighbour 
!•  »hut  his  eyes,  and  then  crossing  the  two  first  fingers  of  citlicr  hand,  make  him 
rub  a  pea,  or  any  other  round  tubstancc  between  them,  he  will  then  protest  that 
ka  feels  tufo  Aucii  olijects. 


Letter  XXXVIH. 


237 


many  English  bishops.  He  accordingly  asks  how  Christ's 
body  can  be  contracted  into  the  space  of  a  host  ?  How  it  can 
be  at  the  right  hand  of  his  Father  in  heaven,  and  upon  our  al- 
tars at  the  same  time?  he.  I  answer,  first,  with  an  ancient  fa- 
ther, that  if  we  insist  on  using  this  HOW  of  the  Jews,  with  re- 
spect to  the  mysteries  revealed  in  Scripture,  we  must  renounce 
our.iaith  in  it.*  2dly,  I  answer  that  we  do  not  know  what  con- 
stit»tes  the  essence  of  matter  and  of  space.  I  say,  3dly,  that 
Christ  transfigured  his  body,  on  Mount  Thabor,  Mark  ix.  1, 
bestowing  on  it  many  properties  of  a  spirit,  before  his  passion, 
End  that  after  he  had  ascended  up  to  heaven,  he  appeared  to  St. 
f*aul  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  Acts  ix.  17,  and  stood  by  him  in 
the  Castle  of  Jerusalem,  Acts  xxiii.  1 1 .  Lastly,  I  answer,  that 
God  fills  all  space,  and  is  whole  and  entire  in  every  particle  of 
matter ;  likewise,  that  my  own  soul  is  in  my  right  hand  and  my 
left,  whole  and  entire ;  that  the  bread  and  wine,  which  I  eat  and 
drink,  are  transubstantiated  into  my  own  flesh  and  blood ;  that 
this  body  of  mine,  which  some  years  ago  was  of  a  small  size,  has 
now  increased  to  its  present  bulk ;  that  soon  it  will  turn  into 
dust,  or  perhaps  be  devoured  by  animals  or  cannibals,  and  thus 
become  part  of  their  'ibstanc  e,  and  that,  nevertheless,  God  will 
restore  it  entire,  at  *  .  last  day.  Whoever  will  enter  into  these 
considerations,  instead  of  employing  the  Jewish  HOW,  will  be 
disposed  with  St.  Austin,  to  "  admit  that  God  can  do  much 
more  than  we  can  understand,"  and  to  cry  out  with  the  apostles, 
respecting  this  mystery :  Lord^  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life, 
.,.,..,.,.,.,.,,, ..■-„,......, ,H-"r..;<,- •..  I  am,  &c. 

iTVUf.ii^'   K^   ,';  ,^f.i;  .J  ;....,!.  .i,.;--i      ,,-.;,,   ,|-/a,J.    .  ,j,':,. 


p.f 


*  Cyril.  Alex.  1. 4,  in  Joan. 


'..;.i 


-I    , ' I 


'M 


•  ;;         r                          .  ,-       <  . 

.•  -  (;«t ;              '    .... 

i-'"'  •-  '.    i'l 

/'■it!       ■  ('  ■ 

*t     ■  »!            ^''     1;       ,^  1 

'  --     1       ^  .     » 

It- 

■  ,'    'I- 

■  .»  mil 

1    i  »■  >  '  i 


*!<<"•>** 


-  '  •-      •  ;  ;    1  .  . 


I    238    J 


LETTER  XXXIX. 
To  JAMES  BROWjy,  Esq. 


coMjaumo^r  uj^der  ojve  kij^d. 


Dear  Sir, 
I  TRUST  you  have  not  forgotten,  what  I  demonstrated  in  the 
first  part  of  our  correspondence,  that  the  Catholic  church  was 
formed  and  instructed  in  its  divine  doctrine  and  rites,  and  espe- 
cially in  its  sacraments  and  sacrifice,  before  any  part  of  the 
New  Testament  was  published,  and  whole  centuries  before  the 
entire  New  Testament  was  collected  and  pronounced  by  her  to 
be  authentic  and  inspired.     Indeed,  Protestants  are  forced  to 
have  recourse  to  the  tradition  of  the  churchy  for  determining  a 
great  number  of  points  which  are  left  doubtful  by  the  Sacred 
Text,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  two  sacraments,  which 
they  acknowledge.     From  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
church  alone,  they  learn,  that  though  Christ,  our  pattern,  was 
baptized  in  a  river,  Mark  i.  9,  and  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  was 
led  by  St.  Philip  into  the  water,  Acts  viii.  38,  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, the  application  of  it  by  infusion  or  aspersion  is  valid,  and 
that,  though  Christ  says,  He  that  BELIE FETH  and  is  bap- 
tized shall  be  saved,  Mark  xvi.  16,  infants  are  susceptible  of  the 
benefits  i    baptism,  who  are  incapable  of  making  an  act  of  faith. 
In  like  manner  respecting  the  eucharist,  it  is  from  the  doctrine 
^nd  practice  of  the  church  alone,  Protestants  learn,  that  though 
Christ  communicated  the  apostles,  at  an  evening  supper,  after 
they  had  feasted  on  a  lamb,  and  their  feet  had  been  washed,  a 
ceremony  which  he  appears  to  enjoin  on  that  occasion  with  the 
utmost  strictness,  John  xiii.  8,  15,  none  of  these  rites  are  essen- 
tial to  that  ordinance,  or  necessary  to  be  practised  at  present. 
With  what  pretension  to  consistency  can  they  reject  her  doctrine 
and  practice  in  the  remaining  particulars  of  this  mysterious  in- 
stitution f     A  clear  exposition  of  the  institution  itself,  and  of 
the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  church,  concerning  the  con- 
troversy in  question,  will  afford  the  best  answer  to  the  objections 
raised  against  the  latter. 

It  is  true  that  our  B.  Saviour  instituted  the  holy  eucharist 
under  two  kinds ;  but  it  must  be  observed  that  he  then  made  it 
a  sacrifice  as  well  as  a  sacrament,  and  that  he  ordained  priests. 


^e«€r  XXXIX, 


239 


after 


namely,  his  twelve  apostles,  (for  none  else  but  they  were  present 
on  the  occasion)  to  consecrate  this  sacrament  and  oner  thiti 
sacrifice.  Now,  for  the  latter  purpose,  namely,  a  sacrifice,  it 
was  requisite  that  a  victim  should  be  really  present,  and,  at 
least,  mystically  immolated,  which  was  then,  and  is  still,  per- 
formed in  the  mass,  by  the  symbolical  disunion,  or  separate 
consecration  of  the  body  and  the  blood.  It  was  requisite,  also, 
for  the  completion  of  the  sacrifice,  that  the  priests  who  had  im- 
molated the  victim,  by  mystically  separating  its  body  and  its 
blood,  should  consummate  it  in  both  these  kinds.  Hence  it  is 
seen,  that  the  command  of  Christ,  on  which  our  opponents  lay 
so  much  stress,  drinJc  ye  all  of  this,  regards  the  apostles,  as 
priests,  and  not  the  laity,  as  communicants.*  True  it  is,  that 
when  Christ  promised  this  sacrament  to  the  faithful  in  general, 
he  promised,  in  express  terms,  both  his  body  and  his  blood, 
John  vi. :  but  this  does  not  imply  that  they  must,  therefore,  re- 
ceive them  under  the  diflerent  appearances  of  bread  and  wine. 
For  as  the  council  of  Trent  teaches,  "  He  who  said.  Unless  you 
shall  eat  the  Jlesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  his  blood,  you 
shall  not  have  life  in  you,  has  likewise  said.  If  any  one  shall  eat  of 
this  bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever.  And  he  who  has  said.  Whoso 
eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  life  everlasting,  has 
also  said.  The  bread  which  I  will  give,  is  my  flesh,  for  the  life  of 
the  world.  And  lastly,  he  who  has  said,  He  who  eateth  my  flesh, 
and  drinketh  my  blood,  abideth  in  me  and  I  in  him :  has  never- 
theless said,  He  who  eateth  this  bread  shall  live  for  ei'er."f 

The  truth  is,  dear  sir,  after  all  the  reproaches  of  the  bishop 
of  Durham  concerning  our  alleged  sacrilege,  in  suppressing  half 
c  sacrament,  and  the  general  complaint  of  Protestants,  of  our 
robbing  the  laity  of  the  cup  of  salvation, J  that  the  precious  body 
and  blood,  being  equally  and  entirely  present  under  each  spe- 
cies, is  equally  and  entirely  given  to  the  faithful,  whichever  they 
leceive  ;  whereas  the  Calvinists  and  Anglicans  do  not  so  much 
ns  pretend  to  communicate  either  the  real  body  or  the  blood;  but 
present  mere  types  or  memorials  of  them.  I  do  not  deny,  that, 
ill  their  mere  figurative  system,  there  may  be  some  reason  fo? 


4- 


W 


*  The  acute  Apologist  of  the  Quakers  has  observed,  how  inconclusively  Protest* 
anls  argue  from  the  words  of  the  institution.  He  saj-s :  "  I  would  gladly  know 
how,  from  the  words,  they  can  be  certainly  resolved  that  these  words  (Do  this) 
mu=it  be  understood  of  the  clergy.  Take,  bless,  and  break  this  bread,  and  give  it 
to  others ;  but  to  the  laity  only :  Take  and  eat,  but  do  not  bless,"  &c.  Barclaift 
J/joiog-y,  Prop.  xiii.  p.  7. 

t  Sess.  xxi.  c.  1. 

t  Conformably  to  the  above  doctrine,  neither  our  priests  nor  our  bishops  rn» 
iSeive  under  morp  than  one  kjnd,  when  thpy  do  not  offer  up  thp  holy  sjicrifipp, 


S40 


Letter  XXXIX. 


receiving  the  liquid  as  well  as  the  solid  substance,  since  the 
former  may  appear  to  represent  more  aptly  the  blood,  and  the 
latter  the  body ;  but  to  us  Catholics,  who  possess  the  reality  of 
them  both,  their  species  or  outward  appearance  is  no  more  thf»u 
a  matter  of  changeable  discipline. 

It  is  the  sentiment  of  the  great  lights  of  the  church,  St. 
Chrysostom,  St.  Austin,  St.  Jerom,  &tc.  and  seems  clear  from 
the  text,  that  when  Christ,  on  the  day  of  his  resurrection,  took 
hreadf  and  blessed  and  brake,  and  gave  it  to  Cleophas  and  the 
other  disciple,  whose  guest  he  was  at  Emmaus,  on  his  doing 
which  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they  knevj  him,  and  he  vanish- 
ed out  of  their  sight,  Luke  xxiv.  30,  31,  he  administered  the 
holy  communion  to  them  under  the  form  of  bread  alone.  In 
like  manner,  it  is  written  of  the  baptized  converts  of  Jerusalem, 
that,  they  were  persevering  in  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  and 
in  the  communication  of  the  BREAKING  OF  BREAD,  and 
in  prayer,  Acts  ii.  42 ;  and  of  the  religious  meeting  at  Troas : 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  assembled  to  BREAK 
BREAD,  Acts  xx.  7,  without  any  mention  of  the  other  species. 
These  passages  plainly  signify  that  the  apostles  were  accustom- 
ed, sometimes  at  least,  to  give  the  sacrament  under  one  kind 
alone,  though  bishop  Porteus  has  not  the  candour  to  confess  it. 
Another  more  important  passage  for  communion  under  either 
kind  he  entirely  overlooks,  where  the  apostle  says.  Whosoever 
shall  eat  this  bread,  OR  drink  the  chalice  of  the  Lord  unworthi- 
ly, shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of  the  Lord.*  True 
it  is,  that  in  the  English  Bible,  the  text  is  here  corrupted,  the 
conjunctive  AND  being  put  for  the  disjunctive  OR,  contrary  to 
the  original  Greek,  as  well  as  to  the  Latin  Vulgate,  to  the  ver- 
sion of  Beza,  &;c. ;  but  as  his  lordship  could  not  be  ignorant  of 


*  H  iriyt),  or  dririk,  1  Cor.  xi.  27.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Grler,  who  has  attempted  to 
vindicate  the  purity  of  the  English  Protestant  Bible,  has  nothing  else  to  say  for 
this  alteration  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle,  than  that  in  what  they  falsely  call  "  the  parat 
lei  texts  of  Luke  and  Matthew,"  the  conjunctive  and  occurs !  Grier's  Answer  to 
Ward's  Errata,  p.  13.  I  may  here  notice  the  horrid  and  notorious  misrepresenta. 
tion  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  concerning  the  Eucharist,  of  which  two  living  digni- 
taries are  guilty  in  their  publication).  The  bishop  of  Lincoln  says :  "  Papists 
contend  that  the  mere  receiving  of  the  Lord's  Supper  merits  the  remission  of  sin,  ex 
opere  cmerato,  as  it  were  mechanically,  whatever  may  be  the  character  or  disposi- 
tion of  the  communicants."  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  ii.  p,  461.  Dr.  Hey  repeats  tlie 
charge  in  nearly  the  same  words.  Lectures,  vol.  iv.  p.  355.  What  CatlioUc  will 
not  lift  up  his  hands  in  amazement  at  tlio  grossness  of  this  calumny,  knowing,  as 
he  does,  from  his  catechism  and  all  his  books,  what  purity  of  soul,  and  how  much 
greater  a  preparation  is  required  for  the  reception  of  our  sacrament  tlian  Protest- 
aata  require  for  receiving  theirs.  See  Concil.  Trid.  Sesa.  xiii.  c.  7.  Cat  Hum. 
Douay  Catech.  &c 


Letter  XXXTT. 


241 


ore  than 
rch,  St. 


vanish- 
red  the 
me.    In 
rusalem, 
■les,  and 
iD,  and 
;  Troas : 
mEAK 
species, 
custom- 
)ne  kind 
nfess  it. 
jr  either 
hosoever 
aworthi- 
*   True 
ted,  the 
trary  to 
the  ver- 
orant  of 


smpted  to 
to  say  for 
the  paral. 
i^nswer  to 
:present£u 
ing  digni- 
"  Papists 
of  sin,  ex 
r  disposi- 
peats  tlie 
liolic  will 
)\vinff,  as 
3W  much 
I  Protest- 
at.  Iluio. 


this  Corruption  and  the  importance  of  the  genuine  text,  it  is  iu« 
excusable  in  him  to  have  passed  it  over  unnoticed. 

The  whole  series  of  ecclesiastical  history  proves  that  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present, 
ever  firmly  believing  that  the  whole  body,  blood,  soul  and  di- 
vinity of  Jesus  Christ  equally  subsist  under  each  of  the  species 
or  appearances  of  bread  and  wine,  regarded  it  as  a  mere  matter 
of  discipline,  which  of  them  was  to  be  received  in  the  holy  sa- 
crament. It  appears  from  Tertullian,  in  the  second  century,* 
from  St.  Dennis  of  Alexandriaf  and  St.  Cyprian, J  in  the  third; 
from  St.  Basil§  and  St.  Chrysostom,  in  the  fourth,  &c.|l  that 
the  blessed  sacrament,  under  the  form  of  bread,  was  preserved 
in  the  oratories  and  houses  of  the  primitive  Christians,  for  pri- 
vate communion,  and  for  the  viaticum  in  danger  of  death. 
There  are  instances  also  of  its  being  carried  on  the  breast,  at 
sea,  in  the  orarium  or  neckcloth. IF  On  the  other  hand,  as  it 
was  the  custom  to  give  the  B.  Sacrament  to  baptized  children, 
it  was  administered  to  those  who  were  quite  infants,  by  a  drop 
out  of  the  chal'.ce.**  On  the  same  principle,  it  being  discover- 
ed, in  the  fifth  century,  that  certain  Manichaean  heretics,  who 
had  come  to  Rome  from  Africa,  objected  to  the  sacramental  cup, 
from  an  erroneous  and  wicked  opinion.  Pope  Leo  ordered 
them  to  be  excluded  from  the  communion  entirely,f  f  and  Pope 
Gelasius  required  all  his  flock  to  receive  under  both  kinds. JJ 
It  appears,  that  in  the  twelfth  century,  only  the  officiating 
priest  and  infants  received  under  the  form  of  wine,  which  dis- 
cipline was  confirmed  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  by  the 
Council  of  Constance,'^'^!  on  account  of  the  profanations,  and 
other  evils  resulting  from  the  general  reception  of  it  in  that 
form.  Soon  after  this,  the  more  orderly  sect  of  the  Hussites, 
namely,  the  Calixtins,  professing  their  obedience  to  the  church 
in  other  respects,  and  petitioning  the  council  of  Basil  to  be  in- 


♦  Ad  Uxor.  1.  ii.  t  Apud  Euseb.  1.  iv.  c.  44.  t  De  Lapsis. 

^  Epist.  ad  Cesar.  ||  Apud  Soz.  1.  viii.  c.  5. 

II  St.  Ambros.  In  obit.  Frat.-~It  appears  also  that  St.  Birinus,  the  apostle  of  thft 
West  Saxons,  brought  the  blessed  sacrament  with  him  into  this  Island  m  an  Orari- 
am.  Gul.  Malm.  Vit.  Pontif.  Florent.  Wigorn,  Higden,  &c. 

*♦  St.  Cypr.  de  Laps.  tt  Sermo.  iv.  de  Quadrag. 

U  Decret.  Compenmus  Dist.  iii. 

^  Dr.  Porteus,  Dr.  Croomber,  Kemnitius,  &c.  accuse  this  council  of  decreeing 
<hat  "  notwitlistanding  (for  so  they  express  it)  our  Saviour  ministered  in  both  kinds, 
»ne  only  shall,  in  future,  be  adminstered  to  the  laity :"  as  if  the  council  opposed 
Sts  authority  to  that  of  Christ ;  whereas  it  barely  defines  that  some  ciraimstances  of 
9he  institution  (namely,  that  it  took  place,  qfter  supper,  that  the  apostles  received 
without  being  fasting,  and  that&otA  species  were  consecrated)  are  not  obligatory  on  all 
Christians.     See  Can.  xiik 

2  U 


•it 

i 


i 


^42 


Letter  XXXIX 


/ 


bulged  in  the  use  of  the  chalice,  this  was  granted  them.*  In 
like  manner  Pope  Pius  IV,  at  the  request  of  the  emperor  Fer- 
dinand, authorized  several  bishops  of  Germany  to  allow  the  use 
of  the  cup  to  those  persons  of  their  respective  dioceses  who  de- 
sired it.f  The  French  kings,  since  the  reign  of  Philip,  have 
liad  the  privilege  of  receiving  under  both  kinds,  at  their  coro- 
nation and  at  their  death. J  The  officiating  deacon  and  sub- 
deacon  of  St.  Dennisj  and  all  the  monks  of  the  order  of  Cluni, 
who  serve  the  altar,  enjoy  the  same^ 

From  the  above  statement  bishop  Porteus  will  learn,  if  not 
that  the  manner  of  receiving  the  sacrament  under  one  or  the 
other  kind,  or  under  both  kinds,  is  a  mere  matter  of  variable 
discipline,  at  least  that  the  doctrine  and  the  practice  of  the  Ca- 
tholic  church  are  consistent  with  each  other.  I  am  now  going 
to  produce  evidence  of  another  kind,  which,  after  all  his,  and 
the  bishop  of  Durham's  anathemas  against  us,  on  account  of 
this  doctrine  and  discipline,  will  demonstrate,  that,  conformably 
with  the  declarations  of  the  three  principal  denominations  o( 
Protestants,  the  point  at  issue  is  a  mere  matter  of  discipline^  or 
else  that  they  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  themselves. 

To  begin  with  Luther :  he  reproaches  his  disciple  Carloslad, 
who  in  his  absence  had  introduced  some  new  religious  changes 
iit  Wittenberg,  with  having  "  placed  Christianity  in  things  of 
no  account,  such  as  commumeating  under  both  kinds"  hc.\\ 
On  another  occasion,  he  writes,  "  if  a  council  did  ordain  or 
permit  both  kinds,  in  spite  of  the  council,  we  would  take  but 
one,  or  take  neither,  and  curse  those  who  should  take  both. "IF 
Secondly,  the  Calvinists  of  France,  in  their  synod  at  Poictiers 
in  1 560,  decreed  thus  i  "  the  bread  of  our  Lord's  Supper  ought 
to  be  administered  to  those  who  cannot  drink  toine,  on  their 
making  a  protestation  that  they  do  not  refrain  from  contempt.** 
Lastly,  by  separate  acts  of  that  parliament  and  that  king,  who 
established  the  Protestant  religion  in  England,  and  by  name, 
communion  in  both  kinds,  it  is  provided  that  the  latter  should 
only  be  commonly  so  delivered  and  ministered,  and  an  exception 
\&  made  in  case  "  necessity  did  otherwise  require."! f     Pifow  1 


♦  Sess.  ii.  t  Mem.  Granv.  t.  xiii.  Odorhainal, 

X  Annal.  Pagi.  ^  Nat.  Alex.  t.  i.  p.  430. 

II  Epist.  ad  Gasp.  Gustol.  If  Form.  Miss.  t.  ii.  pp.  384,  38& 

*♦  On  the  Lord's  Supper,  c.  iii.  p.  7* 

ft  Burnet's  Hist,  of  Reform.  Part  ii.  p.  41.  Heylin's  Hist,  of  Reform,  p.  58.  For 
the  proclamation,  see  bishop  Sparrow's  Collection,  p.  17.— N.  B;  The  wi*iter  has 
heai'd  of  British  made  wine  being  frequently  used  by  Church  ministers  in  their  sa- 
fcrament,  for  real  wine.  The  mission'aries,  who  were  sent  to  Otaheite,  uscdthe 
brcMd/unt  for  real  bread  on  the  like  occasioti.    See  Voyage  of  the  ship  Du£^ 


need  not  o 
poiniment  t 
cessity  can 
might  as  vi 
as  without 
water.  T 
the  sacran 
changeabh 
tions  of  P 
to  know  w 


T«Ebi 
the  sacrifi 
which,  ho 
have  alrej 
of  sanctifi 
It  as  I  we 

A  sacri 
mal,  or  ot 
master  of 
evidently 
Creator, 
creature  i 
ed  by  Go 
afterward 
in  the  re^ 
ceptable 
his  Divin 
and  the  n 
'hat  it  ha 


them.*  In 
iperor  Fer- 
low  the  use 
$es  who  (le- 
hilip,  have 
their  coro- 
n  and  sub 
of  Clunij 

learn,  if  not 

one  or  the 

of  variable 

of  the  Ca- 

now  going 

sill  his,  and 

account  of 

anformabl}' 

linations  of 

scijtlinej  or 

s. 

Carloslad, 
ius  changes 
1  things  of 
nds,"  &c.|| 
ordain  or 
i  take  but 
ke  both."!r 
It  Poictiers 
pper  ought 
5,  on  their 
mtempt.** 
king,  who 
by  name, 
;ter  should 
exception 
f     J^owl 


Letter  XL* 


243 


1.  p.  58.  For 

e  writer  has 

in  their  s»« 

te,  used  the 


need  not  observe,  that,  if  the  use  of  the  cup  were,  by  the  iip- 
pointment  of  Christy  an  essential  part  of  the  sacrament,  no  ne- 
cessity can  ever  be  pleaded  in  bar  of  that  appointment,  and  men 
might  as  well  pretend  to  celebrate  the  eucharist  without  bread 
as  without  wine,  or  to  confer  the  sacrament  of  baptism  without 
water.  The  dilemma  is  inevitable.  Either  the  ministration  of 
the  sacrament  under  one  or  under  both  kinds  is  a  matter  of 
changeable  discipline,  or  each  of  the  three  principal  denomina- 
tions of  Protestants  has  contradicted  itself.  I  should  be  glad 
to  know  what  part  of  the  alternative  his  lordship  may  choose. 

I  am,  &c. 


li'X 


•>., 


t  ■^ 


i-i.: 


...-.I-.  . 


.liiii 


■  If  I 


LETTER  XL. 

To  JAMES  BROWN,  Esq,     ^ 

ox  THE  SACRIFICE  OF  THE  :N'EW  LAW. 


:'-'\i 


I    }' 


■1't.i 


t     > 


''■\''    Dear  Sir,      '  '■^' 

The  bishop  of  London  leads  me  next  to  the  consideration  of 
the  sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  commonly  called  THE  MASS,  on 
which,  however,  he  is  brief,  and  evidently  embarrassed.  As  I 
have  already  touched  upon  this  subject,  in  treating  of  the  means 
of  sanctification  in  the  Catholic  church,  I  shall  be  as  brief  upon 
It  as  I  well  can.      *      ^^  •  '     '<       •  •  /   ,ii;. 

A  sacrifice  is  an  offering  up  and  immoladon  of  a  living  ani- 
malj  or  other  sensible  thing,  to  God,  in  testimony  that  he  is  the 
master  of  life  and  death,  the  Lord  of  iss  and  all  things.  It  is 
evidently  a  more  expressive  act  of  the  creature's  homage  to  his 
Creator,  as  well  as  one  more  impressive  on  the  mind  of  the 
creature  itself  than  mere  prayer  is,  and  therefore  it  was  reveal- 
ed by  God  to  the  patriarchs,  at  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and 
afterwards  more  strictly  enjoined  by  him  to  his  chosen  people, 
in  the  revelation  of  his  written  law  to  Moses,  as  the  most  ac- 
ceptable and  efficacious  worship  that  could  be  offered  up  to 
his  Divine  Majesty.  The  tradition  of  this  primitive  ordinance, 
and  the  notion  of  its  advantageousness,  have  been  so  universal, 
'hat  it  has  been  practiced,  in  one  form  or  other,  in  every  an 
24 


244 


Letter  XL. 


from  our  first  parents  down  to  the  present,  and  by  every  people 
tvhether  civilized  or  barbarous,  except  modern  Protestants. 
For  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  changed  the  glory  of  the  in- 
corruptible God  into  the  likeness  of  the  image  of  corruptible  man, 
and  of  birds  and  fourfooted  beasts,  Rom.  i.  23,  they  continued 
the  i'ite  of  sacrifice,  and  transferred  it  to  these  unworthy  objects 
of  their  idolatry.  From  the  whole  of  this  1  infer,  that  it  would 
have  been  truly  surprismg,  if,  under  the  most  perfect  dispensa- 
tion of  God's  benefits  to  men,  the  new  law,  he  had  left  them 
destitute  of  sacrifice.  But  he  has  not  so  left  them  j  on  the  con- 
trary, that  prophecy  of  Malachy  is  evidently  verified  in  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  spread  as  it  is  over  the  surface  of  the  earth : 
From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the  going  down  thereof  my 
name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles;  and,  in  every  place,  there  is 
sacrifice;  and  there  is  offered  to  my  name  a  clean  oblation.  Malac. 
i.  11.  If  Protestants  say,  we  have  the  sacrifice  of  Christ's 
death ;  I  answer,  so  had  the  servants  of  God  under  the  law  of 
nature  and  the  written  law  :  for  it  is  impossible  that  with  the 
blood  of  oxen  and  goats  sin  should  be  taken  away :  nevertheless, 
they  had  perpetual  sacrifices  of  animals  to  represent  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  to  apply  the  fruits  of  it  to  their  souls ;  in  the 
same  manner,  Catholics  have  Christ  himself  really  present,  and 
mystically  oflered  on  their  altars  daily,  for  the  same  ends,  but 
in  a  far  more  efllcacious  manner,  and,  of  course,  a  true  propitia- 
tory sacrifice.  That  Christ  is  truly  present  in  the  blessed  eu- 
charist,  I  have  proved  by  many  arguments ;  that  a  mystical 
immolation  of  him  takes  place  in  the  holy  mass,  by  the  separate 
consecration  of  the  bread  and  of  the  wine,  which  strikingly  re 
presents  the  separation  of  his  blood  from  his  body,  I  have  like- 
wise shown  :  finally,  I  have  shown  you  that  the  ofilciating 
priest  performs  these  mysteries  by  command  of  Christ,  and  in 
memory  of  what  he  did  at  the  Inst  supper,  and  what  he  endured 
on  Mount  Calvarv:  DO  THIS  IN  MEMORY  OF  ME. 
Nothing  then  is  wanting  in  the  holy  mass,  to  constitute  it  the 
true  and  propitiatory  sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  a  sacrifice  which 
as  much  surpasses,  in  dignity  and  efiicacy,  the  sacrifices  of  the 
old  law,  as  the  chief  priest  and  victim  of  it,  the  incarnate  Deity, 
surpasses,  in  those  respects,  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and  the  animals 
which  they  sacrificed.  No  wonder  then,  that,  as  the  fathers  of 
the  church,  from  the  earliest  times,  have  borne  testimony  to  the 
reality  of  this  sacrifice,''^  so  they  should  speak,  in  such  lofty 


•  St.  Justin,  who  appears  to  liavc  l>prn,  in  his  youth,  rontompornry  with  St.  John 
lh«  Evangelist,  Sciys,  tiiut  "  Cliritt  iiutituted  a  sauificc  in  bread  and  wioc,  which 


Ijetter  XL. 


245 


ery  people 
'rotestants. 
/  of  the  in- 
diihh  man, 

continued 
hy  objects 
it  it  would 

dispensa- 

left  them 
n  the  con- 
in  the  Ca- 
he  earth : 
hereof,  my 
there  is 
n.  Malac. 
f  Christ's 
the  law  of 
t  with  the 
k'ertheless, 
the  death 
Is ;  in  the 
esent,  and 

ends,  but 
!  propitia- 
lessed  eu- 
L  mystical 
e  separate 
kingly  re 
have  like- 
officiating 
St,  and  in 
0  endured 
OF  ME. 
ute  it  the 
fice  which 
ces  of  the 
nte  Deity, 
ic  animals 
fathers  of 
3ny  to  the 
such  lofty 


m\h  St.  John 
wioc,  which 


t^rms,  of  its  awfulness  and  efficacy :  no  wonder  that  the  church 
of  God  should  retain  and  revere  it  as  the  most  sacred,  and  the 
very  essential  part  of  her  sacred  liturgy :  and  I  will  add,  no 
wonder  that  Satan  should  have  persuaded  Martin  Luther  to  at- 
tempt to  abrogate  this  worship,  as  that  which,  most  of  all,  is 
offensive  to  him.* 

The  main  arguments  of  the  bishops  of  London  and  Lincoln, 
and  of  Dr.  Hey,  with  other  Protestant  controvertists,  against 
the  sacrifice  of  the  new  law,  are  drawn  from  St.  Paul's  Episf.e 
to  the  Hebrews,  where,  comparing  the  sacrifice  of  our  Saviour 
with  the  sacrifices  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  the  apostle  says,  that 
Christ  being  come  a  high  priest  of  the  good  things  to  come,  by  a 
greater  and  more  perfect  tabernacle,  not  made  with  hands,  that  w, 
not  of  this  creation:  neither  by  the  blood  of  goats,  or  of  calves, 
but  by  his  own  blood,  entered  once  into  the  holies,  having  obtain- 
ed eternal  redemption.  Heb.  ix.  11,  12.  JVor  yet  that  he  should 
offer  himself  often,  as  the  high  priest  entereth  into  the  holies  every 
yea/ .  Ver.  25.  Again,  St.  Paul  says,  Every  priest  standeth  in- 
deed daily  ministering  and  often  offering  the  same  sacrifices, 
which  can  never  take  away  sins :  but  this  man  offering  one  sa- 
crifice for  sins,  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  Chap.  x.  1 1 , 
12. 

Such  are  the  texts,  at  full  length,  which  modern  Protestants 
urge  so  confidently  against  the  sacrifice  of  the  new  law ; 
but  in  which  neither  the  ancient  fathers,  nor  any  other  descrip- 
tion of  Christians,  but  themselves,  can  see  any  argument  against 
it.  In  fact,  if  these  passages  be  read  in  their  context,  it  will 
appear  that  the  apostle  is  barely  proving  to  the  Hebrews  (whose 
lofty  ideas  and  strong  tenaciousness  of  their  ancient  rites  ap- 
pear from  diflerent  parts  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles)  how  infi- 
nitely superior  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  is,  to  those  of  the  Mosaic 
Law  J  particularly  from  the  circumstance,  which  he  repeats,  in 

Christians  ofl'er  up  in  every  place,"  qiiotinf?  Molachy  i.  19.  Dialofj^.  cum  Tryphoa 
St.  Ironseus,  whose  master,  Polycarp,  was  a  disciple  of  tliit  Evangelist,  says,  that 
"  Christ,  in  consecrating  bread  and  wine,  has  instituted  tlic  sacrifice  of  the  New 
Law,  whicli  the  cliurch  received  from  llie  apostles,  according  to  the  prophecy  o( 
Malachy,"  I,,  iv.  .32.  St.  Cypriai.  calls  the  Kucliarist  "  A  true  and  full  sacrifice  ;•• 
and  says,  that  "  as  Melchisedcch  olFered  bread  and  Avine,  so  Christ  otFered  the 
same,  namely,  his  body  and  bh)od."  Kpist.  6.1.  St.  Chrysostoni,  St.  Austin,  St. 
Ambrose,  &.c.  are  equally  clear  and  .  xpressive  on  this  point.  The  last  mentioned 
calls  this  sacrifice  by  the  name  of  Jilissa  or  mass,  so  do  St.  Leo,  St.  (Jrcgory,  our 
Ven.  Bede,  &c. 

♦  Luther,  in  liis  Book  Dc  Unct.  ct  IS'iiKS.  Priv.  tom.  vii.  fol.  229,  pives  an  a(v 
count  of  the  motive  whi«-h  induced  him  to  suppress  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  amoni; 
hia  followers.  He  says  that  the  Devil  appeared  to  him  at  midnight,  and  in  a  loner 
conference  with  him,  the  whole  of  which  he  relates,  convinced  him  tliat  the  wor- 
iihip  of  ttkc  mass  in  iJolalry.    Sec  Leltcnt  to  u  Prebendary.    Let  T 


•»!  1 


»■( 


!'■' 


I* 


346 


Letter  XL, 


di/Terent  forms,  namely,  that  there  was  a  necessity  of  their  sa 
crlfices  being  often  repeated,  which,  after  all,  could  not  of  them- 
selves, and  independently  of  the  one  they  prefigured,  take  away 
sin ;  whereas  the  latter,  namely,  Christ's  death  on  the  cross,  ob- 
literated at  once  the  sins  of  those  who  availed  themselves  of  it. 
Such  is  the  argument  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Jews,  respecting  their 
sacrifices,  which  in  no  sort  militates  against  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass ;  this  being  the  same  sacrifice  with  that  of  the  cross,  as  to 
the  victim  that  is  oflered,  and  as  to  the  priest  who  offers  it,  dif-< 
fering  in  nothing  but  the  manner  of  offering  ;*  in  the  one  diere 
being  a  real,  and  in  the  other  a  mystical,  effusion  of  the  victim's 
blood.f  So  far  from  invalidating  the  Catholic  doctrine  on  this 
point,  the  apostle  confirms  it,  in  this  very  Epistle ;  where  quot- 
ing and  repeating  the  sublime  Psalm  of  the  royal  prophet  con- 
cerning the  Messiah  ;  Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  ACCORDING 
TO  THE  ORDER  OF  MELCHISEDECH,  Ps.  109,  alias 
1 10,  he  enlarges  on  the  dignity  of  this  sacerdotal  patriarch,  to 
whom  Aaron  himself,  the  high  priest  of  the  old  law,  paid  tri- 
bute, as  to  his  superior,  through  his  ancestor  Abraham,  Heb.\, 
vii.  Now  in  what  did  this  order  of  Melchisedech  consist."*  Iii 
what,  I  ask,  did  his  sacrifice  differ  from  those  which  Abraham 
himself  and  the  other  patriarchs,  as  well  as  Aaron  and  his  sons 
offered  f  Let  us  consult  the  sacred  te\t,  as  to  what  it  says  con- 
cerning this  royal  priest,  when  he  came  to  meet  Abraham,  on 
his  return  from  victory :  Melchisedrrh^  the  king  of  Salem, 
bringing  forth  BREAD  AND  WINE,yor  Ac  was  the  priest  of  the 
most  High  God;  blessed  him.  Gen.  xiv.  18.  It  was  then  in  offering 
up  a  sacrifice  of  bread  and  wtne,f  instead  of  slaughtered  animals, 
that  Melchisedech's  sacrificj  diflered  from  the  generality  of 
those  in  the  Old  Law,  and  that  he  prefigured  the  sacrifice, 
which  Christ  was  to  institute  in  the  New  Law,  from  the  same 
elements.  No  other  sense  but  this  can  be  elicited  from  the 
Scripturp  as  to  this  matter,  and  accordingly,  the  holy  fathers 
unnnimously  adhere  to  this  meaning.'^ 

In  finishing  this  letter,  I  cannot  help,  dear  sir,  making  two  or 
three  short,  but  important  observations.  The  first  regards  the 
deception  practised  on  the  unlearned  by  the  above-named  bi- 
shops, Dr.  Hey,  and  most  oilier  Protestant  controvertists,  in 


*  Concil,  Trid.  Sess.  xxi'i.  cap.  2.  t  Cat.  ad  Pnroc.  P.  il.  p.  81. 

t  The  sacrifice  of  Cain,  Gen.  iv,  'i.  and  Ihut  ordered  in  Ltvii.  ii.  1,  of  flour,  oil, 
and  inrense,  prove  tliat  inanimate  tilings  were  sontetimcs  of  old  oflered  in  sacr'w 
fice. 

^  St.  Cypr.  Ep.  C3.  St  Aug.  in  Ps.  xxxiii.  St  Chry*.  Hom.  35.  St  Jerom,  Rp. 


ttctter  XL, 


247 


tbeir  sa 
t  of  them- 
take  away 
cross,  Gi- 
ves of  it. 
ting  their 
ce  of  the 
OSS,  as  to 
?rs  it,  dif- 
one  there 
e  victim's 
le  on  this 
ere  quot- 
ahet  con- 
)RDING 
09,  alias 
riarch,  to 
paid  tri- 
I,  Heb.x. 
sist  f     Ii] 
Abraham 
his  sons 
>ays  con- 
iham,  on 
f  Salem, 
iest  of  the 
1  offering 
animals, 
rality  of 
sacrifice, 
the  same 
>om  the 
Y  fathers 

5  two  or 
ards  the 
tmed  bi- 
rtists,  in 


r  flour,  oil, 
d  in  sacr'w 

erom,  Ep. 


talking,  on  every  occasion,  of  the  Popish  mass,  and  represent- 
mg  the  tenets  of  the  real  presence,  transubstantiation,  and  a 
subsisting  true  propitiatory  sacrifice,  as  peculiar  to  Catholics ; 
whereas,  if  they  are  persons  of  any  learning,  they  must  know 
that  these  are  and  have  always  been  held  by  all  the  Christians 
in  the  world,  except  the  comparatively  few  who  inhabit  the 
northern  parts  of  Europe.  I  speak  of  the  Melchite  or  common 
Greeks  of  1  urkey,  the  Armenians,  the  Muscovites,  the  Nesto- 
rians,  the  Eutychians  or  Jacobites,  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas 
in  India,  the  Cophts  and  Ethiopians  in  Africa ;  all  of  whom 
maintain  each  of  those  articles,  and  almost  every  other  on  which 
Protestants  difl'er  from  Catholics,  with  as  much  firmness  as  we 
ourselves  do.  Now  as  these  sects  have  been  totally  separated 
from  the  Catholic  church,  some  of  them  eight  hundred  and  some 
fourteen  hundred  years,  it  is  impossible  they  should  have  derived 
any  recent  doctrines  or  practices  from  her;  and,  divided,  as 
they  ever  have  been  among  themselves,  they  cannot  have  com- 
bined to  adopt  them.  On  the  other  hand,  since  the  rise  of  Pro- 
testantism, attempts  have  been  repeatedly  made  to  draw  some 
or  other  of  them  to  the  novel  creed;  but  all  in  vain.  Melanc- 
thon  translated  the  Ausburg  Confession  of  Faith  into  Greek, 
and  sent  it  to  Joseph,  patriarch  of  C.  P.,  hoping  he  would 
adopt  it ;  whereas  the  patriarch  did  not  so  much  as  acknow- 
ledge the  receipt  of  the  present.*  Fourteen  years  later,  Cru- 
sius,  professor  of  Tubigen,  made  a  similar  attempt  on  Jeremy, 
Jhe  successor  of  Joseph,  who  wrote  back,  requesting  him  to  write 
no  more  on  the  subject,  at  the  same  time  making  the  most  ex- 
plicit declaration  of  his  belief  in  the  seven  sacraments,  the  sa- 
crifice of  the  mass,  transubstantiation,  &;c.f  In  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  fresh  overtures  being  made  to  the 
Greeks  by  the  Calvinists  of  Holland,  the  most  convincing  evi- 
dence of  the  orthodox  belief  of  all  the  above-mentioned  commu- 
nions, on  the  articles  in  question,  were  furnished  by  them,  the 
originals  of  which  were  deposited  in  the  French  king's  library 
at  Paris.  J  I  have  to  remark,  in  the  second  place,  on  the  in^ 
consistencies  of  the  church  of  England,  respecting  this  point ; 
she  has  priests,^  but,  no  snrrijice !  She  has  altars,\\  but,  no 
victim !  She  has  an  essential  consecration  <»f  the  sacramental 
clenients,ir  without  any  the  least  effect  upon  them !     Not  to  dive 


•  Shcffinac.  torn.  Ii.  p.  7.  t  Ibid.  t  Perpetuity  de  la  Foi. 

^  See  the  Rubrics  or  the  communion  service. 
II  See  ditto  in  Sparrow's  Collec.  p.  20. 

il  "  Ifthe  consecrated  bread  or  wine  be  all  spent,  before  all  have  communicated, 
the  priest  is  tn  consecrate  more."    Rubr.    N.  1).  Bishop  Warburton  and  biahop 


■lii 


M 


\i 


84' 


^48 


Letter  XL, 


deeper  into  this  chaos,  I  would   gladly  ask  bishop  Porteos, 
what  hinders  a  deacon,  or  even  a  layman,  from  consecrating 
the  sacramental  bread  and  wine  as  validly  as  a  priest  or  a  bi- 
shop can  do,  agreeably  to  his  system  of  consecration?    There 
is  evidently  no  obstacle  at  all,  except  such  as  the  mutable  law 
of  the  land  interposes.     In  the  last  place,  I  think  it  right  to 
quote  some  r  '  the  absurd  and  irreligious  invectives  of  the  re- 
nowned Dr  Hey  against  the  holy  mass,  because  they  show  the 
extreme  igiionvxe  of  our  religion,  which  generally  prevails 
among  the  i.iost  learned  Protestants,  who  write  against  it.   The 
doctor  first  describes  the  mass  as  "  blasphemous,  in  dragging 
down  Christ  from  heaven,"  according  to  his  expression ;  2dly, 
as  "  pernicious,  in  giving  men  an  easy  way,"  as  he  pretends, 
"  of  evading  all  their  moral  and  religious  duties ;"  3dly,  as 
*'  promoting  infidelity:"  in  conformity  with  which  latter  asser- 
tion, he  maintains  that  "  most  Romanists  of  letters  and  science 
are  infidelt;  "     He  next  proceeds  seriously  to  advise  Catholics 
to  abandon  this  part  of  their  sacred  liturgy,  namely,  the  ador- 
able sacrifice  of  the  New  Law ;  and  he  then  concludes  his  theo- 
logical farce  with  the  following  ridiculous  threats  against  this 
sacrifice:  "  If  die  Romanists  will  not  listen  to  our  brotherly  ex- 
hortations; htihem  fear  our  threats.     The  rage  o{  paying  for 
masses  will  not  last  for  ever :  as  men  improve^  (by  the  French 
Revolution,)  it  will  continue  to  grow  weaker ;  as  philosophy 
(that  of  .^theism)  rises,  masses  will  sink  in  price  and  supersti- 
tion pine  away."*     I  wish  I  had  an  opportunity  of  telling  the 
learned  professor,  that  I  should  have  expected,  from  the  failure 
of  patriarch  Luther,  counselled  and  assisted  as  he  was  by  Satan 
himself,  in  his  attempts  to  abolish  the  holy  mass,  he  would  have 
been  more  cautious  in  dealing  prophetic  threats  against  it !  [In 
fact  be  has  lived  to  see  this  divine  worship  publicly  restored  in 
every  part  of  Christendom,  where  it  was  proscribed,  when  he 
vented  his  menaces :  for  as  to  the  private  celebration  of  mass^ 
this  was  never  intermitted,  not  even  in  the  depth  of  the  gloomi- 
est dungeon",  and  where  no  pay  could  be  had  by  the  Catholic 
priesthood.     What  other  religious  worship,  I  ask,  could  have 
triumphed  over  such  a  persecution  !    The  same  will  be  the  case 
in  the  latter  days ;  when  the  man  of  sin  shall  have  indignation 

Cleaver  earnestly  contend  lliat  the  Eucharist  is  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice :  but  as,  in 
Iheir  dread  of  Popery,  they  udniit  no  ehui>(?c,  nor  even  the  reui'ty  of  a  victim, 
their  feast  is  proved  to  be  an  itjugina. y  banquet  on  an  idcnl  viand, 

*  Dr.  Hey's  Theol.  Lectures,  vol.  iv.  p.  SS.'i.  The  professor  tells  tis  in  a  note, 
timt  this  lecture  was  delivered  in  the  year  1792;  the  hey-day  of  that  antichristiaii 
nnd  antisocial  pl\ilosophy,  which  attempted,  through  an  ocean  of  blood,  to  lubvcrt 
MML'rjr  ailor  aua  every  tluvnc 


tigainst  i 
continua 
wont^*'  * 
fdct, — sh 
the  diviri 
combs,  :: 
heavenly 
which  h\. 
God  the 


I 

I  PERC 

the  sanu 
the  forg' 
ajjainst 
Tracts  o 
repute  ai 
iiig  the 
Protcsta 
ly  with 
and  real 
Home  y 
comniitti 
one  may 
wt  upon 
l^opery 
whcrewi 
transgre 
ture."* 

*  Abom 

the  SU1U4  1 


Leiier  XLL 


S49 


Porteos, 
isecrating 
t  or  a  bi- 
There 
table  law 

right  to 
f  the  re- 
show  the 

prevails 
tit.   The 
dragging 
in;  2dly, 
pretends, 
3dly,  as 
ter  asser- 
d  science 
Zlatholics 
he  ador- 
his  theo- 
linst  this 
tierly  ex- 
lyingfor 
e  French 
lilosophy 
supersti- 
lling  the 
le  failure 
by  Satan 
uld  have 
t  it !  [In 
stored  in 
when  he 
of  mass^ 
gloomi- 
Catholic 
lid  have 
the  case 
ignation 

but  as,  in 
f  a  victim, 

in  a  note, 
tichristiuii 
to  lubvcrt 


tigainst  the  covenant  of  the  sanctuary, — and  shall  take  away  the 
continual  sacrifice,  Dan.  xi.  30,  34;  for  even  then,  the  mystical 
wom^*>  who  is  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  ha^  the  moon  under  her 
feet, — shall  jly'  into  the  wilderness,  Rev.  xii.  1,  G,  and  perform 
the  divine  mysteries  of  an  incarnate  Deity  in  caverns  and  cata- 
combs, as  she  did  in  early  times,  till  that  happy  day,  when  her 
heavenly  spouse,  casting  aside  those  sacramental  veils,  under 
which  his  love  now  shrouds  him,  shall  shine  forth  in  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father f  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead.li 

I  am,  he. 

J.M. 


,  '•         1 1 


LETTER  XLL 
To  the  Rev.  ROBERT  CLAYTOX,  M.  Jl, 

OJV  JIBSOLUTIOJ^  FROM  S/JV. 

Dear  Sir, 
T  fERCEiVE  that  you  chiefly  follow  B.  Porteus,  who  mixes  in 
the  same  chapter  the  hcter()jL!,eneons  subjects  of  the  mass  and 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  in  the  selection  of  your  objections 
against  »he  church,  though  you  adopt  some  others  from  the 
Tracts  of  bishop  Watson,  and  even  from  writers  of  such  little 
repute  as  the  Rev.  C.  De  Cootlogon.  This  preacher,  in  vent- 
ing the  horrid  calumnies,  which  a  great  proportion  of  othiT 
Protestant  preachers  and  controvertisls  of  diflereut  sects,  equal- 
ly with  himself,  instil  into  llie  minds  of  their  ignorant  hearers 
awd  readers,  expresses  himself  as  follows :  "  In  the  church  of 
Home  y(wi  may  purchase  not  only  pardons  for  sins  already 
committed,  but  for  those  liiui  shall  be  committed ;  so  that  any 
one  may  promise  himself  impunity,  upon  praying  the  rate  that  is 
%>t  upon  any  sin  he  hath  a  mind  to  commit.  And  so  truly  is 
Popery  the  mother  of  abominations,  that  if  any  one  hath 
wherewithal  to  pay,  he  may  not  only  be  indulged  in  his  present 
transgressions,  but  may  even  be  permitted  to  transgress  in  fu" 
ture.''**     And  are  these  shameless  calumniators  real  Christians, 

*  Abominations  of  tbe  rhuroh  of  Romo,  |    13.    The  preacher  fcoes  on  to  rtate 
the  suut9  ut'iitam;y  fur  wbicb,  he  sa)s,C;ntholics  believe  tuey  may  comoulUie  ato»* 

a  i 


II 


11 


250 


Letter  XLT. 


who  believe  m  a  judgment  to  come !  And  do  they  expect  to 
ijnake  us  Catholics  renounce  our  religion,  by  representing  it  to 
U3  as  the  very  reverse  of  what  we  know  it  to  be !  It  is  true,  bi- 
shop Porteus  does  not  go  the  lengths  of  the  pulpit-declaimei- 
abene  quoted,  nnd  of  the  other  controvertists  allufied  tc,  In  his 
attack  upon  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  absolillon  and  justifica- 
tion :  still  he  h  guilty  of  much  gross  aiisrepreseiitatit  s  -J'  it. 
As  his  luiiguage  is  conAised,  if  i<i>t  couiTadic^orj  0:1  tuv  uh- 
Ject,  I  will  briefsy  state  what  the  Catholic  church  has  ever  be- 
lieved, and  has  solemnly  viefined  In  her  last  generfil  council 
concerning  it. 

The  council  of  Trent,  then,  tenche?,  that  •"  All  men  'osl  v.ielr 
innocence  and  becom':"  defiled  nnd  childrc}}  of  wrath,  ia  the  pre- 
varication of  Adam  ;  that,  not  only  th'»  Centiics  v  '^  Hiiable,hv 
«h<^  force  of  nature,  but  that  even  i\\e  Jews  wrre  unable,  by  the 
r.aw  ©r  Moses,  to  rii^e,  notwithstanding  free-will  was  not  extinct 
in  ilK'ni.  ftowevt^r  weakened  and  depraved  :"*  tliat  "  The  liea- 
ven! .  ^'ather  of  mercy  and  God  of  all  consolation  sent  his  Son, 
Jesi??  Christ,  to  men,  in  order  to  redeem  both  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles ;"f  that  "Though  he  died  for  :Ul,  yet  all  do  not  receive 
tlie  benefit  of  his  death  ;  but  only  tho^.e  to  whom  the  merit  of 
his  passion  is  communic/ited ;" J  that,  for  this  purpose,  "  Since 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  baptism,  or  the  desire  of  it,  is  ne- 
cessary ;"<^  that  "  The  beginning  of  justification,  in  adult  per- 
sons (those  who  are  come  to  the  use  of  reason)  is  to  be  derived 
from  God's  preventing  grace,  through  Je.^us  Christ,  by  which, 
tvithout  any  merits  of  their  own,  they  are  called  ;  so  that  they 
tvho,  by  their  sins,  were  averse  friim  God,  by  his  exciting  anil 
assisting  grace,  are  prepared  to  convert  themselves  to  their 
justification,  by  freely  consenting  to  and  co-operating  with  his 


ntrocious  crimes;  "  Por  incest,  &c.  five  sixpences;  for  debnuchin"  t-  vir)?in,  six 
^i\pen<!cs;  for  perjury,  ditto;  ibrhimwiio  kdl^  liis  futlier,  mother,  tie.  one;  crown 
and  rtve  grouts!"  This  curious  account  is  borroAved  from  the  Taxa  CanrrUuriir 
Romance,  a  book  which  has  been  frequciilly  pul)lished,  llious''  Avith  .ereat  variation:* 
both  as  to  the  crimes  and  the  prices,  by  the  Protestants  r)f  (Germany  and  Frunre, 
and  as  frequently  condemned  by  tlie  See  of  Rome.  It  is  proper  tliat  Mr.  Cliijloii 
and  iiis  friends  siiould  knoAV,  tiiat  tlie  Pope's  (^ourt  of  Ciuincery  iias  no  more  to 
do,  nor  pretends  to  have  any  more  to  do,  witii  the  forj!;irmess  of  xins,  than  his  Ma- 
jesty's court  of  chancery  does.  In  case  there  ever  "as  the  liast  real  s;roundAVoik 
ofthiii  vile  book,  which  I  cannot  find  Uiere  was-,  the  money  paid  into  the  papal 
•>hancery  cou'd  be  nothing  else  but  the /ret  of  office,  on  restorinK  certain  culprits  to 
tlie  civil  nrivtuyes  which  they  had  forfeited  by  their  crimes.  When  the  proceed- 
ings ill  do  ..'tors  commons,  in  case  of  incest,  are  suspended  (as  1  have  known  them 
HUspended  during  the  whole  life  of  one  of  the  accused  parties)  fees  of  office  are  al- 
ways required  :  but  would  it  not  be  a  vile  calumny  to  ..ly,  that  leave  to  commit 
laccfit  may  be  purchased  in  England  for  certain  ,iums  . .  money  ? 

*  Seis.  vi.  cap.  i.  t  Cap.  ii.  ^  Cap.  iii.  ^  Cap,  If. 


grace  :"* 
and  recei 
God,  be 
and  pron 
ciful  to  t 
the  fount 
hatred  ai 
ceiving  I 
ments."f 
justificati 
don  of  si 
"The  p 
from  tha 
from  sin 
humble  h 
least  in  ( 
tion ;  an 
other  pic 
nal  punii 
the  sacra 
poral  pu 
wholly  r 
doctrine 
glory  of 
gress,  to 
and  mod 
gion  to  t 
leaves  m 
great  W( 
Calvinisi 
In  short, 
of  the  IV 
pected  ii 
the  pres 
exterior 
avail  hii 
virtues. 
Coetlog 
chiefly  I 
sion,  an 
whatsoe 
hreatheo 
Holy  G 


Letter  XLL 


351 


y  expect  to 
anting  it  to 
is  true,  bi- 
-declaimer 
tc,  sn  his 

ui(  !  ^*  it. 
1  <^v  (th- 
is ever  be- 
^\  council 

1  ost  i.ieir 
ii  the  pre- 
)J!iable,hv 

'1p,  i)v  the 
lot  extinci 
The  liea- 
it  his  Son, 
and  Gen- 
et receive 
e  merit  of 
k  "  Since 
»f  it,  is  ne- 
adnit  per- 
)e  derived 
3y  which, 
that  they 
siting  ami 
1  to  their 
^  with  \m 


V  virjcin,  six 
.  orif;  crown 

('anifllari^r 
it  variutioti!* 
and  Fruiiot', 
Wr.  Cliijloti 

no  more  ti» 
^lan  his  i\ra- 
Totmdwoik 

0  t\\e  papal 

1  culprits  to 
•le  pHKiefd- 
nown  thtm 
ficp  ore  al- 
to commit 

'ap.  JT. 


grace  :"*  that,  "  Being  excited  and  assisted  by  divine  grace, 
and  receiving  faith  from  hearing,  they  are  freely  moved  towards 
God,  believing  the  things  which  have  been  divinely  revealed 
and  promised — they  are  excited  to  hope  that  God  will  be  mer- 
ciful to  them  for  Christ's  sake,  and  they  begin  to  love  him,  as 
the  fountain  of  all  justice ;  and  therefore  are  moved  to  a  certain 
hatred  and  detestation  of  sins."     Lastly,  "  They  resolve  on  re- 
ceiving baptism,  to  begin  a  new  life  and  keep  God's  command- 
ments."f     Such  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church  concerning  the 
justification  of  the  adult  in  baptism ;  with  respect  to  the  par- 
don of  sins  committed  after  baptism,  the  church  teaches,  that 
"  The  penance  of  a  Christian,  after  his  fall,  is  very  diflereni 
from  that  of  baptism,  and  that  it  consists,  not  only  in  refraining 
from  sins  and  a  detestation  of  them,  namely,  a  contrite  and 
humble  heart,  but  also  in  a  sacramental  confession  of  them,  at 
least  in  desire,  and,  at  a  proper  time,  and  the  priestly  absolu- 
tion ;  and  likewise  in  satisfaction,  by  fasting,  alms,  prayers,  and 
other  pious  exercises  of  a  spiritual  life ;  not  indeed  for  the  eter-^ 
nal  punishment,  which,  together  with  the  crime,  is  remitted  in 
the  sacrament,  or  the  desire  of  the  sacrament,  but /or  the  tem- 
poral punishment,  which  the  Scripture  teaches  is  not  always  and 
wholly  remitted,  as  in  baptism."];    Such  is  and  always  was  the 
doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church,  which  thus  ascribes  the  whole 
glory  of  man's  justification,  both  in  its  beginning  and  its  pro- 
gress, to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  in  opposition  to  Pelagians 
and  modern  Lutherans,  who  attribute  the  beginning  of  conver- 
sion to  the  human  creature.     On  the  other  hand,  this  doctrine 
leaves  man  in  possession  of  his  free  will,  for  co-operating  in  this 
great  work ;  and  thereby  rejects  the  pernicious  tenet  of  the 
Calvinistii,  wlm  deny  free  will,  and  ascribe  even  our  sins  to  God. 
In  short,  the  Catholic  church  equally  condemns  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Methodist,  who  fancies  himself  justified,  in  some  unex- 
pected instant,  without  faith,  hope,  charity,  or  contrition ;  and 
the  presumption  of  the  unconverted  sinner,  who  supposes  that 
exterior  good  works  and  the  reception  of  the  sacrament  will 
avail  him,  without  any  degree  of  the  above-mentioned  divine 
virtues.     Such,  I  say,  is  the  Catholic  doctrine,  in  spite  of  De 
Coetlogon   and   bishop  Porteus's  calunmies.     This  prelate  is 
chiefly  bent  on  disproving  the  necessity  of  sacramental  confes 
sion,  and  on  depriving  the  sacerdotal  absolution  of  all  efHcacy 
whatsoever.     Accordingly,    he    maintains    that    when    Christ 
breathed  upon  his  apostles  and  said  to  them:  Receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost :   WHOSE    SINS  VOU    SHALL   FORGIVE, 


1-! 

■■m 

IF 


I' 


Cap. 


t  Cap.  vi. 


John  xx>  3V,  23. 


■jr 


252 


Letter  XJJ. 


THEY  ARE   FORGIVEN  TO   THKVI ;   AND  WHOSE 
SINS  YOU   SHALL   RETAIN,  THEY  ARE   RETAIN- 
ED, John  XX.  22,  23,  he  did  not  give  them  any  real  power  to 
remit  sir^s,  but  only  "  a  power  of  declaring  who  were  truly 
penitent,  and  of  inflicting  miraculous  punishments  on  sinners ; 
as  likewise  of  preaching  of  the  word  of  God,"  &;c.*     And  is 
this,  I  appeal  to  you.  Rev.  sir.  following  the  plain  and  natural 
sense  of  the  written  word .''     But,  instead  of  arguing  the  case 
myself,  I  will  produce  an  authority  against  the  bishop's  vague 
and  arbitrary  gloss  on  this  decisive  passage,  which  I  think  he 
cannot  object  to  or  withstand  ;  it  is  no  other  than  that  of  the 
renowned  Protestant  champion,  Chillingworth.     Treating  of 
this  text  he  says,  "Can  any  man  be  so  unreasonable  as  to  ima- 
gine, that,  when  our  Saviour,  in  so  solemn  a  manner,  having 
first  breathed  upon  his  disciples,  thereby  conveying  and  insinu- 
ating the  Holy  Ghost  into  their  hearts,  renewed  unto  them,  or 
rather  confirmed  that  glorious  commission,  &lc.   whereby  he 
delegated  to  them  an  authority  of  binding  and  loosing  sins  upon 
earth,  he,  can  any  one  think,  I  say,  so  unworthily  of  our  Sa- 
viour as  to  esteem  these  words  of  his  for  no  better  than  compli- 
ment ?  Therefore,  in  obedience  to  his  gracious  will,  and  as  I  am 
warranted  and  enjoined  by  my  holy  mother,  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, I  beseech  you,  that,  by  your  practice  and  use,  you  will 
not  sufier   that   commission,  which  Christ  hath  given  to  his 
ministers,  to  be  a  vain  form  of  words,  without  any  sense  under 
them.     When  you  find  yourselves  charged  and  oppressed,  &c. 
have  recourse  to  your  spiritual  physician,  and  freely  disclose  the 
nature  and  malignancy  of  your  disease,  &l«*.     And  come  not  to 
him,  only  with  such  a  mind  as  you  would  go  to  a  learned  man, 
as  one  that  can  speak  comfortable  things  to  you  ;  but  as  to  one 
that  hath  authority,  delegated  to  him  from  God  himself,  to  ah' 
solve  and  acquit  you  of  your  «i«s."f 

Having,  quoted  this  great  Protestant  authority  against  the 
prelate's  cavils  concerning  sacerdotal  absolution,  I  shall  pro- 
duce one  or  two  more  of  the  same  sort,  and  then  return  to  the 
more  direct  proofs  of  the  doctrine  under  consideration.  The 
Lutherans,  then,  who  are  the  elder  branch  of  the  Reformation, 
in  their  Confession  of  Faith  and  apology  for  that  Confession, 
expressly  teach  that  absolution  is  no  less  a  sacrament  than  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper,  that  particular  absolution  is  to  be 
retained  in  confession,  that  to  reject  it  is  tht  error  of  the  Nova- 
iian  heretics;  and  that,  by  the  power  of  the  keys,  Mat.  xvi.  19, 


*  P.  46. 


t  Serm.vii.  Bclig.  pp.408,,409. 


sins  are  r 
the  sight 
that  the  p 
believes 
God."\ 
ants  say 
infected 
doctrine 
tinguishe 
by  Cranr 
curate,  is 
any  of  y 
thing,  la( 
some  oth 
sin  and  g 
and  of  t 
Conform 
won  Pra] 
the  latter 
sins,  if  h( 
after  whi< 
and  heari 
who  hnth 
hj  re  pint 
offences : 
THEE  ] 
and  of  th 
that,  sooi 
and  the  li 
inform  hi 
ty  this  ( 
when  arc 
count  of 
nion  serv 
at  that  ti 
becomes 
tlie  book 
ation  of  I 

*  Con<"r? 

+  ?nCar( 
fession. 

t  Bishop 

^  Order 
pion  of  ■^in' 
to  reveal  U 


Letter  XLI. 


253 


WHOSE 

1  power  to 
vere  truly 
n  sinners  J 
And  is 
id  natural 
g  the  case 
p's  vague 
think  he 
int  of  tlie 
eating  of 
IS  to  ima- 
having 
iid  insinu- 
•  them,  or 
ereby  he 
sins  upon 
f  our  Sa- 
n  compli- 
d  as  I  am 
fi  of  Eng-    ' 
you  will 
en  to  his 
ise  under 
ssed,  &c. 
sciose  the 
ne  not  to 
ned  man, 
as  to  one 
f,  to  ab- 

linst  the 
lall  pro- 
rn  to  the 
n.  The 
imation, 
rifession, 
an  bap- 
is  to  be 
I  Nov&- 
xvi.  19, 


sins  are  remitted,  not  only  in  the  sight  of  the  church,  but  also  ■•ji 
the  sight  of  God.*     Luther  himself,  in  his  Catechism,  required 
that  the  penitent,  in  confession,  should  expressly  declare  that  he 
believes  "  the  forgiveness  of  the  priest  to  be  the  forgiveness  of 
God."-f     What  cm  bishop  Porteus  and  other  modern  Protest- 
ants say  to  all  this,  except  that  Luther  and  his  disciples  were 
infected  with  Popery?     Let  us  then  proceed  to  inquire  into  the 
doctrine  of  the  church  itself,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished heads.     In  The  Order  of  the  Communion^  composed 
by  Cranmer,  and  published  by  Edward  VI,  the  parson,  vicar  or 
curate,  is  to  proclaim  this  among  other  things :  "  If  there  be 
any  of  you  whose  conscience  is  troubled  and  grieved  at  any 
thing,  lacking  comfort  or  counsel,  let  him  come  to  me,  or  to 
some  other  discreet  and  learned  priest,  and  confess  and  open  his 
sin  and  grief  secretly  ^  he.  and  that  of  us,  as  a  minister  of  God 
and  of  the  church,  he  may  receive  comfort  and  absolution."^ 
Conformably  with  this  admonition,  it  is  ordained  in  the  Com- 
mon Prayer  Book  that  when  the  minister  visits  any  sick  person, 
the  latter  "  should  be  moved  to  make  a  special  confession  of  his 
sins,  if  he  feels  his  conscience  troubled  with  any  weighty  matter; 
after  which  confession,  the  priest  shall  absolve  him,  if  he  humbly 
and  heartily  desire  it,  after  this  sort :  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  hnth  left  power  to  his  church  to  absolve  all  sinners,  who  tru- 
ly repvnt  and  believe  in  him,  of  his  great  mercy,  forgive  thee  thine 
offencen :  and,  by  ''is  authority  committed  to  me,  1  ABSOLVK 
THEE  FROM  ALL  THY  SmS,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  dhost.  Amen."^     I  may  add, 
that,  soon  after  James  T.  became,  .it  the  same  time,  the  member 
and  the  head  of  the  English  cliuich,  he  desired  his  prelates  to 
inform  him,  in  the  conference  at  Hampton  Court,  what  authori- 
ty this  church   claimed  in  the  article  of  absolution  from  sin, 
when  archbishop  Whitgift  began  to  entertain  him  with  an  ac* 
count  of  the  general  confession  and  absolution,  in  the  commu- 
nion service;  with  which  the  king  not  being  satisfied,  Bancroft,, 
at  that  time  bishop  of  London,  fell  on  his  knees,  and  said,  "  It 
becomes  us  to  deal  plainly  with  your  majesty  :  there  is  also  in 
tlie  liuok  a  more  particular  and  personal  absolution  in  the  visit- 
ation of  the  sick.  Not  only  the  confession  of  Augusta,  (Ausburg), 

*  Con<"n!?s.  August.  Art.  xi-  xii.  xiii.  Apol. 

t  fn  Catech.  Farv.  See  also  Luther's  Table  Talk,  c.  xviii.  on  Auricular  Con 
fession. 

t  Bishop  Sparrow's  Collect,  p.  20. 

^  Order  for  the  Visitation  of  tun  Sick.  N.  B.  To  fiicouraRe  tiie  secret  confes- 
sion of  sins  the  church  of  Rii(;land  'las  made  a  (^anon,  requiring  her  minibtcri*  not 
lu  reveal  the  same.    Sco  Cauoncs  l^cclcs.  ^  D.  lG92,u.  113. 


»■ 


L 


ill 


254 


Lettet  XLl. 


Bohemia  aild  Saxony,  detain  and  allow  it,  but  also  Mr.  Calvin 
doth  approve  both  such  a  general  and  such  a  private  confession 
and  absolution."  To  this  the  king  answered,  I  exceedingly 
well  approve  it,  being  an  apostolical  and  Godly  ordinance,  given 
i '  the  name  of  Christ  to  one  that  desireth  it  upon  the  clearing  of 
his  conscience.  '* 

I  have  signified  that  there  are  other  passages  o^  Scripture, 
besides  that  quoted  above  from  John  xx.  in  proof  of  the  au- 
thority exercised  by  the  Catholic  church  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sin;  such  as  St.  Mat.  xvi.  19,  where  Christ  gives  the  keys  oj 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  Peter;  and  chap,  xviii.  18,  where  he 
declares  to  all  his  apostles  :  f^erily  I  say  unto  you  ;  whatsoever 
ye  shall  hind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever 
ye  shall  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.     But  here  also 
Bp.  Porteus  and  modern  Protestants  distort  the  plain  meaning 
of  Scripture,  and  say,  that  no  other  power  is  expressed  by  these 
words,  than  those  of  inflicting  miraculous  punishments,  and  or 
preaching  the  word  of  God !     Admitting,  however,  it  were  pen 
sible  to  affix  so  foreign  a  meaning  to  these  texts,  I  would  gladly 
ftsk  the  bishop,  why,  after  ordaining  the  priests  of  his  churt  h 
by  this  very  form  of  words,  he  afterwards,  by  a  separate  form, 
commissions  them  tc  preach  the  word,  a)id  to  minister  ?!  "  No 
one,"  exclaims  the  bishop,  "  but  God,  can  forgive  sins."  Truo; 
but  as  he  has  annexed  the  forgiveness  of  sins  committed  befoie 
baptism,  to  the  reception  of  this  sacrament  with  the  requisite 
dispositions :  Do  penance,  said  St.  Peter  to  the  Jews,  and  he 
baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the 
remission  of  your  sins,  Acts  ii.  ti8  ;  so  he  is  pleased  to  forgive 
sins  committed  after  baptism,  by  means  of  contrition,  confes* 
sion,  satisfaction,  and  the  priest's  absolution. 

Against  the  obligation  of  confessing  sins,  which  is  so  evident- 
ly sanctioned  in  Scripture :  Many  that  believed,  came  and  con- 
fessed, and  declared  their  deeds,  Acts  xlx.  1 8  ;  and  so  expressly 
commanded  therein,  confess  your  sins  one  to  another,  James  v 
16,  the  bishop  contends  that  "  It  is  not  knowing  a  person's  sins 
that  can  qualify  the  priest  to  give  him  absolution,  but  knowing 
he  hath  repented  of  tlieni."j  In  refutation  of  this  objection,  I 
do  not  ask,  why,  then,  does  the  English  church  move  the  dy- 


*  Fuller's  Ch.  Hist.  B.  x.  p.  9.  See  the  Defence  of  Bancroft's  Sucessor  in  the 
See  of  Canterbury,  Dr.  Laud,  who  endeavoured  to  enforce  auricular  Confession,  in 
Heylin's  life  of  Laud,  P.  ii.  p.  415.  It  appears  from  this  writer,  that  Laud  was 
Confessoi-  lo  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  and  from  Burnet,  that  bishop  Morley  was 
Confessor  to  the  Dutchess  of  York  when  a  Protestant.    Hist,  of  hio  own  Tiwes. 


t  See  the  Form  of  Ordering  Priests. 


i  P.  46 


ing  man 
vested  b 
forgive  c 
taking  c 
and  with 
ner,  esp( 
refrain  fi 
gained  fl 
gatherec 
whether 
they  are 
proof  o( 
enable  tl 
reparatic 
and  whe 
neighboi 
tion.  A 
frequentl 
sion,  anc 
thing  of 
business 
enced  pa 
to  conce: 
pose  to  1 
perhaps 
proper  r 
is  for  the 
and  the 
Christ,  t( 
of  the  lai 
confossio 
are  requi 
firm  pur 
church  d 
clared  it 
nance,  in 
cation  o 
shameful 
my  aboA 
have  see 
in  short. 


Letter  XL/. 


5255 


Mr.  Calvin 
e  confession 
exceedingly 
anee,  given 
clearing  of 

Scripture, 
of  the  au-  ^ 
giveness  of 
he  keys  oj  j 

where  lie 
whaisoevpr 
whatsoever 
n  here  also 
n  meani))g 
d  by  these 
nts,  and  of 
were  pcs- 
uld  gladly 
his  churcji 
rate  form, 
r.^t  "No 
IS."  Truo; 
ted  befoie 
5  requisite 
vs,  and  be 
st,  for  the 
to  forgive 
u,  eonfes' 

0  evident- 

and  con- 
expressly 

James  v 
•son's  sins 

knowing 
jection,  I 
3  the  dy- 


lessor  in  the 
5nfession,ir» 
Laud  was 
Morley  wasr 
Q  Tiues. 


ing  man  to  confess  his  sins?  .«iit  I  say,  that  the  priest,  being 
vested  by  Christ  with  a  judicial  povrer  to  bind  or  to  loose f  to 
forgive  or  to  retain  sinsj  cannot  exercise  that  power,  without 
taking  cognizance  of  the  cause  on  which  he  is  to  pronounce, 
and  without  judging  in  particular  of  the  dispositions  of  the  sin- 
ner, especially  as  to  his  sorrow  for  his  sins,  and  resolution  to 
refrain  from  them  in  future  :  now  this  knowledge  can  only  be 
gained  from  the  penitent's  own  confession.     From  this  may  be 
gathered,  whether  his  oflences  are  those  o{  frailty  or  of  malice^ 
whether  they  are  accidental  or  habitual;  in  which  latter  case 
they  are  ordinarily  to  be  retained,  till  his  amendment  gives 
proof  o(  his  real  repentance.     Confession  is  also  necessary,  to 
enable  the  minister  of  the  sacrament  to  decide  whether  a  public 
reparation  for  the  crimes  committed  be  or  be  not  requisite  j 
and  whether  there  is  or  is  not  restitution  to  be  made  to  the 
neighbour  who  has  been  injured  in  person,  property,  or  reputa- 
tion.    Accordingly,  it  is  well  known  that  such  restitutions  are 
frequently  made  by  those  who  make  use  of  sacramental  confes- 
sion, and  very  seldom  by  those  who  do  not  use  it.     I  say  no- 
thing of  the  incalculable  advantage  it  is  to  the  sinner  in  the 
business  of  his  conversion,  to  have  a  confidential  and  experi- 
enced pastor,  to  withdraw  the  veils  behind  which  self-love  is  apt 
to  conceal  his  favourite  passions  and  worst  crimes,  and  to  ex- 
pose to  him  the  enormit}'  of  his  guilt,  of  which  before  he  had 
perhaps  but  an  imperfect  notion ;  and  to  prescribe  to  him  the 
proper  remedies   for  his  entire    spiritual    cure.     After  all,  it 
is  for  the  holy  Catholic  church,  with  whom  the  Word  of  God 
and  the  sacraments  were  deposited  by  her  divine  spouse,  Jesus 
Christ,  to  explain  the  sense  of  the  former,  and  the  constituents 
of  the  latter.     In  short,  this  church  has  uniformly  taught,  that 
confession  and  the  priest's  absolution,  where  they  can  be  had, 
are  required  of  the  penitent  sinner,  as  well  as  contrition  and  a 
firm  purpose  of  amendment.     But,  to  believe  (hf  bishop,  our 
church  does  not  require  contrition  at  all,  thottsrh  slie  has  de- 
clared it  to  be  one  of  the  necessary  parts  of  sacramental  pe- 
nance, nor  "  any  dislike  to  sin  or  love  to  God,"*  for  the  justifi- 
cation of  the  sinner.     I  will  make  no  farther  answer  to  this 
shameful  caiumny,  than  by  referring  you  and  your  friends  to 
my  above  citations  from  the  council  of  Trent.     In  these,  yon 
have  seen  that  she  requires  "  a  hatred  and  detestation  of  sin  ;" 
in  short,  "  a  contrite  and  humble  heart,  which  God  never  do* 


i 


25 


♦  P.  47. 


256 


Letter  XLI. 


tptses:"  and  moreover,  "  an  incipient  love  ofTaodjas  the  foun- 
liiln  of  all  justice."      ,  „J'    )    *  * 

Finally,  his  lordship  has  the  confidence  to  maintain,  that 
"  The  primitive  church  did  not  hold  confession  and  absolution 
of  this  kind  to  be  necessary,"  and  that  "  Private  confession 
was  never  thought  of  as  a  command  of  God,  for  nine  hundred 
years  after  Christ,  nor  determined  to  be  such  till  after  1200."* 
The  few  following  quotations  from  ancient  fathers  and  councils, 
will  convince  our  Salopian  friends  what  sort  of  trust  they  are  to 
place  in  this  prelate's  assertions  on  theological  subjects.  Ter- 
tullian,  who  lived  in  the  age  next  to  that  of  the  apostles,  and  is 
the  earliest  Latin  writer,  wliose  works  we  possess,  writes  thus: 
"  If  you  withdraw  from  confession,  think  of  hell-fire,  which 
confession  extinguishes."f  Origen,  who  wrote  soon  after  him, 
inculcates  the  necessity  of  confessing  our  most  private  sins,  even 
those  of  thought,!  and  advises  the  sinner  "  to  look  carefully 
about  him  in  choosing  the  person  to  whom  he  is  to  confess  his 
sins."<^  St.  Basil,  in  the  fourth  century,  wrote  thus :  "  It  is 
necessary  to  disclose  our  sins  to  those  to  whom  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  divine  mysteries  is  committed. "||  St.  Paulinus,  the 
disciple  of  St.  Ambrose,  relates,  that  this  holy  doctor  used  to 
"  weep  over  the  penitents  whose  confessions  he  heard,  but  never 
disclosed  their  sins  to  any  but  to  God  alone."ir  The  great  St. 
Austin  writes,  "  Our  merciful  God  wills  us  to  confess  in  this 
world,  that  we  may  not  be  confounded  in  the  other;**  and 
elsewhere  he  says,  "  Let  no  one  say  to  himself,  I  do  penance  to 
God  in  private.  Is  it  then  in  vain  that  Christ  has  said.  What- 
soever you  loose  on  earthy  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven  ?  Is  it  in 
vain  that  the  keys  have  been  given  to  the  church  .''"ff  I  could 
produce  a  long  list  of  other  passages  to  the  same  effect,  from 
fathers  and  doctors,  and  also  from  councils  of  the  church,  an- 
terior to  the  periods  he  has  assigned  to  the  commencement  and 
confirmation  of  the  doctrine  in  question :  but  I  will  have  re- 
course to  a  shorter,  and  perhaps  more  convincing  proof,  that 
this  doctrine  could  not  have  been  introduced  into  the  church 
at  any  period  whatsoever  subsequent  to  that  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  My  argument  is  this  :  it  is  impossible  it  should  have 
been  at  any  time  "ntroduced,  if  it  was  not  from  the  first  neces- 
sary.    The  pride  of  the  human  heart  would  at  all  times  have 


*  Ibid.  t  Lib.  de  Pcenit  X  Horn.  3  in  Levit 

^  Horn.  2  in  Fs.  zxxviL  ||  Rule  229  1  In  Vit.  Ambro& 

♦♦  Horn.  20.  it  Horn.  4a 


Letter  XLL 


257 


;s 


tain,  thai 
bsolution 
onfessioii 
liundrefl 
1200."* 
councils, 
ey  are  to 
s.     Ter- 
}  and  is 
tes  thus; 
which 
ter  him, 
iHs,  even 
•arefully 
iless  his 

"  It  is 

ispensa- 
lus,  the 
used  to 
^t  never 
reat  St. 

in  this 
**  and 
ance  to 

What- 
Is  it  in 
I  could 
t,  from 
ch,  an- 
'nt  and 
ive  re- 
)f,  that 
-hurch 
nd  his 
1  have 
neces- 

have 


ro& 


revolted  at  the  imposition  of  such  a  humiliation,  as  that  of  con- 
fessing all  its  most  secret  sins,  if  Christians  had  not  previously 
believed  that  this  rite  is  of  divine  institution,  and  even  necessary 
for  the  pardon  of  them.  Supposing,  however,  that  the  clergy, 
at  some  period,  had  fascinated  the  laity,  kings  and  emperors, 
as  well  as  peasants,  to  submit  to  this  yoke;  it  will  still  remain 
to  be  accounted  for,  how  they  took  it  up  themselves;  for 
monks,  priests  and  bishops,  and  the  Pope  himself,  must  equally 
confess  their  sins  with  the  meanest  of  the  people.  And  if  even 
this  could  be  explained,  it  would  still  be  necessary  to  show  how 
the  numerous  organized  churches  of  the  Nestorians  and  Euty- 
chians,  spread  over  Asia  and  Africa,  from  Bagdad  to  Axum,  all 
of  whom  broke  from  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  church  in 
the  fifth  century,  took  up  the  notion  of  penance  being  a  sacra- 
ment, and  that  confession  and  absolution  are  essential  parts  of 
it,  as  they  all  believe  at  the  present  day.  With  respect  to  the 
main  body  of  the  Greek  Christians,  they  separated  from  the 
Latins  much  about  the  period  which  our  prelate  has  set  down 
for  the  rise  of  this  doctrine ;  but  though  they  reproached  the 
Latin  Christians  with  shaving  their  beards,  singing  Allelujah 
at  wrong  seasons,  and  other  such  like  minutise,  they  never  ac- 
cused them  of  any  error  respecting  private  confession  or  sacer- 
dotal absolution.  To  support  the  bishop's  assertions  on  this 
and  many  other  points,  it  would  be  necessary  to  suppose,  as  I 
have  said  before,  that  a  hundred  millions  of  Greek  and  Latin 
Christians  lost  their  senses  on  some  one  and  the  same  day  or 
night ! 

In  finishing  this  letter,  1  take  leave,  Rev.  sir, to  advert  to  the 
case  of  some  of  your  respectable  society,  who,  to  my  know- 
ledge, are  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Catholic  religion,  but 
are  deterred  from  embracing  it,  by  the  dread  of  that  sacrament 
ol  which  I  have  been  treating.  Their  pitiable  case  is  by  no 
means  singular :  we  continually  find  persons,  who  are  not  only 
desirous  of  reconciling  themselves  to  their  true  mother,  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  but  also  of  laying  the  sins  of  their  youth  and  their 
ignorances^  Ps.  xxlv.  alias  xxv.  7,  at  the  feet  of  some  one  or 
other  of  her  faithful  ministers,  convinced  that  thereby  they 
would  procure  ease  to  their  afflicted  souls,  yet  have  not  the 
courage  to  do  this.  Let  the  persons  alluded  to  humbly  and 
fervently  pray  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts  for  his  strengthen- 
ing grace,  and  let  them  be  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  what  an 
unexceptionable  witness  says,  who  had  experienced,  while  ha 
was  a  Catholic,  the  Interior  joy  he  describes,  where,  persuading 

the  penitent  to  go  to  his  confessor    "  not  as  to  one  that  can 

2K 


d68 


Letter  XLU. 


speak  comrortable  and  quieting  words  to  him,  but  as  to  one 
that  hath  authority  delegated  to  him  from  God  himself,  to  ab- 
solve and  acquit  him  of  his  sins,"  he  goes  on,  "  If  you  shall  do 
this,  assure  your  souls,  that  the  understanding  of  man  is  not 
able  to  conceive  that  transport,  and  excess  of  joy  and  comfort, 
which  shall  accrue  to  that  man's  heart,  who  is  persuaded  he 
hath  been  made  partaker  of  this  blessing."*  On  the  other 
hand,  if  such  persons  are  convinced,  as  I  am  satisfied  they  are, 
(hat  Christ's  words  to  his  apostles,  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost: 
whose  sins  you  shall  remits  they  are  remitted^  mean  what  they 
express,  they  must  know,  that  confession  is  necessary  to  buy  oflf 
overwhelming  confusion,  as  the  fathers  I  have  quoted  signify, 
at  the  great  day  of  manifestation,  and  with  this  never-endiiyr 


pwiishment. 


U) 


■i  ^j   y 


'  I,'  1 . 


!'   i)- 


?•' 


i  |(  'Ml  !'i 


I  am,  Uc. 


J.M. 


(1  » 


•  ;  •>•.'/■ 


il'lli     (!  il 


LETTER  XLII. 


'4.)  I'l'it 


"•^'  '\    To  the  Rev.  ROBERT  CLAYTOJV,  M.  A, 


<.\   :vy\ 


OJV  IJ^DULGE:<rCES. 


1  f-'- 


''{: 


Rev  Sir, 
I  TRULJT  you  will  pardon  me,  if  1  do  not  send  a  special  an- 
swer to  the  objections  you  have  stated  against  my  last  letter  to 
you,  because  you  will  find  the  substance  of  them  .inswered  in 
this  and  my  next  letter  concerning  indulgences  and  purgatory. 
Bishop  Porteus  reverses  the  proper  order  of  these  subjects,  by 
treating  first  of  the  latter:  indeed  his  ideas  are  much  confused, 
and  his  knowledge  very  imperfect  concerning  them  both.  This 
prelate  describes  an  indulgence  to  be,  in  the  belief  of  Catholics, 
(without,  Uov.  jver,  giving  any  fnilhority  whatever  for  his  de- 
scription) "  a  transfer  of  the  overplus  of  the  sanits'  gooduess, 
Joined  with  the  merits  of  Christ,  Uc.  by  the  Pope,  as  head  of 
the  church,  towards  the  remission  of  their  sins,  who  fulfd,  in 
llicir  lifetime,  certain  conditions  appointed  by  him,  or  whos«; 


CliilUnffWorth,  Sermon  vtt.  p.  4oa. 


Ml 


Letter  XUl. 


969 


as  to  one 
eir,  to  ab- 

shall  do 
an  is  not 

comfort, 
uaded  he 
the  other 
they  are, 
y  Ghost: 
liat  they 
o  buy  off 
\  signify, 
'r-endiiyr 


J.M. 


clal  an-* 
2ttvr  to 
ercd  in 
fzatory. 
cts,  by 
1 1  fused, 
.   This 
iholics, 
lis  de- 
)di)ess, 
oad  of 
Ifil,  in 
whost; 


friends  will  fulfii  them,  after  ttieir  death."^  He  speaks  of  it  at 
"  a  method  of  niaking  poor  wretches  believe  that  wickedness 
here  may  become  consistent  with  happiness  hereafler — that  re- 
pentance is  explained  away  or  overlooked  among  other  things 
joined  with  it,  as  saying  so  many  prayers  and  paying  so  much 
money."!  Some  of  the  bishop's  friends  have  published  much 
the  same  description  of  indulgences,  but  in  more  perspicuous 
language.  One  of  them,  in  his  attempt  to  show  that  each 
Pope,  in  succession,  has  been  the  man  of  sin,  or  Antichrist, 
says,  "  Besides  their  own  personal  vices,  by  their  indulgences, 
pardons,  and  dispensations,  which  they  claim  a  power  from 
Christ  of  granting,  and  wWicli  they  have  sold  in  so  infamous 
a  manner,  they  have  encouraged  all  manner  of  vile  and 
wicked  practices.  They  have  contrived  numberless  me- 
thods of  making  a  holy  life  useless,  and  to  assure  the  most 
abandoned  of  salvation,  provided  they  will  sufficiently  pay 
the  priests  for  absolution."!  With  the  same  disregard  of 
charity  and  truth,  another  eminent  divine  speaks  of  the  matter 
thus,  "  the  Papists  have  taken  a  notable  course  to  secure  men 
from  the  fear  of  hell,  that  of  penances  and  indulgences.  To 
those,  who  will  pay  the  price,  absolutions  are  to  be  had  for  the 
most  abominable  and  not  to  be  named  villanies,  and  license 
also  for  not  a  few  wickednesses."*^  In  treating  of  a  subject, 
the  most  intricate  of  itself  among  the  common  topics  of  contro- 
versy, and  which  has  been  so  much  confused  and  perplexed  by 
the  misrepresentations  of  our  opponents,  it  will  be  necessary, 
for  giving  you,  Rev.  sir,  and  my  other  Salopian  friends,  a  clear 
and  just  idea  of  the  matter,  that  I  should  advance,  step  by  step, 
in  my  explanation  of  it.  In  this  manner  I  propose  showing 
you,  first,  'vhat  an  indulgence  is  not,  and,  next,  what  it  really 

18. 

I.  An  indulgence,  then,  never  was  conceived  by  any  Catholic 
to  be  a  leave  to  commit  a  sin  of  any  kind,  as  De  Coetlogon, 
bishop  Fowler,  and  others  charge  them  with  believing.  The 
first  principles  of  natural  religion  must  convince  every  rational 
being  that  God  himself  cannot  give  leave  to  commit  sin.  The 
idea  of  such  a  license  takes  away  that  of  his  sanctity,  and,  of 
course,  that  of  his  very  being.  II.  No  Catholic  ever  believed 
it  to  be  a  nardon  for  future  sins,  as  Mri;.  Hannah  More,  and  a 
great  part  of  other  Profsstant  writers  represent  the  matter. 

♦  P.  fiS. 

t  p.  64,  Bunoon  on  the  Muu  of  Sin,  republished  by  bishop  WatiOD,TrMta,  TOL 
f,  p.  273. 
I  Bishop  Fowler's  Design  of  Christianity,  Tracts,  Tol.  Ti.  p.  388. 
4  Ucoson  on  the  Miu)  of  Sin,  Collect 
25* 


I 
j 


260 


Letter  XLTl 


This  lady  describes  the  Catholics  as  "  procuring  indemnity  for 
future  gratifications  by  temporary  abstractions  and  indulgences, 
purchased  at  the  court  of  Rome."*     Some  of  her  fraternity, 
indeed,  have  blasphemously  written,  "  Believers  ought  not  to 
mourn  for  sin,  because  it  was  pardoned  before  It  was  commit- 
ted ;"f  but  every  Catholic  knows  that  Christ  himself  could  not 
pardon  sin  before  it  was  committed,  because  this  would  imply 
thai  he  forgave  tUe  sinner  without  repentance.     III.  An  indul- 
gence, according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church,  is  not, 
and  does  not  include  the  pardon  of  any  sin   at   all,   little  or 
great,  past,  present,  or  to  come,  or  the  eternal  j  unishment  due 
to  it,  as  all  Protestants  suppose.     Hence,  if  the  ^jardou  of  sin  is 
mentioned  in  any  indulgence,  this  means  nothing  more  than 
the  remission  oii\\e  temporary  "punishments  annexed  to  such  sin. 
IV.  We  do  not  believe  an  indulgence  to  imply  any  exemption 
from  repentance,  as  B.  Porteus  slanders  us;  for  this  is  always 
enjoined  or  implied  in  the  grant  of  it,  and  is  indispensably  ne- 
cessary for  the  effect  of  every  grace  ;J  nor  from  the  works  of 
penance,  or  other  good  works  ;  because  our  church  teaches  that 
the  "  life  of  a  Christian  ought  to  be  a  perpetual  penance,^  and 
that  to  enter  into  life,  we  must  keep  God's  commandments,^  and 
must  abound  in  every  good  ^vork.^^^\     Whether  an  obligation  of 
all  this  can  be  reconciled  with  the  articles  of  being  "  justified 
by  faith  only,"**  and  that  "  works  done  before  grace  partake 
of  the  nature  of  8in,"-|-f  I  do  not  here  inquire.     V.  It  is  incon- 
sistent with  our  doctrine  of  inherent  jiistiJlcntion^W  to  believe, 
as  the  same  prelate  charges  us,  that  the  ellect  of  an  indulgence 
is  to  transfer  "the  overplus  of  the  goodness,"  or  justification 
of  the  saints,  by  the  ministry  of  tin*  Pope,  to  us  Catholics  on 
earth.     Such  an  absurdity  maybe  more  easily  reconciled  with 
the  system  of  Luther  and  other  Protestants  concerning  imputed 
justification  ;  which,  being  like  a  "  clean,  neat  cloak,  thrown 
over  a  filthy  leper,"^'^  may  be  concrived  transftr;>lde  from  one 
person  to  another.     Lastly,  whereas  the  council  of  Trent  (rails 

'     ♦  Stricliirps  on  Fomnle  F.dacat.i»»n,  vol.  ii.  p.  23f>. 

,     t  Eator:'    llonrypomh  of  Siilvation.     Sec  also  Sir  Ri»       - '  ililPs  I.ctter9. 

t  Coiicil.  Trid.  Sess.  vi.  c.  4,  c.  l.'J,  &c.  -V    .  - 

if  Sess.  xiv.  I>c  Kxtr.  Uric.  ||  Soss.  vi.  ran.  JD. 

il  Fl)i(l.  esq).  lfi."-N.  B.  Tliorr  ore  riclit  Indnlirrnccs  grrantol  to  Cntholirs  nt  \\w 
chief  festivals,  &c.  in  every  year ;  tli«^  <on<lifion,s  of  wliicli  ur«',  roi  ''  s.>»ioti  TrJ//»  nn- 
tnr  rrppulanrf,  the  M.  ('omnnmion,  aliir-to  llif  poor,  (wIiImhiI  (lisliii<-tinii  oC  llirir 
religion)  prayers  for  the  eininili  and  sir.iyed  mhiI-*,  llie  i>cu<e  ofciirisli  iriom,  nnd 
the  blessing  of  (>od  on  thiH  natinn  ;  flnnlly,  a  dif<p()«<itii)n  to  hear  the  yvxd  of  God, 
and  to  a«.Mist  the  nirk.    Sec  Lail}'s  Directory,  Keatini?  and  lirown* 

♦♦  Art.  XI.  of  .19  Art.  ft  Art.  XIII. 

il  Trid.  Soas.  vi.  can.  si.  ^^  UcuaiiUH  dc  JuKtif 


Letter  XLII. 


261 


emnity  fop 

dulgences, 
ft-aternity, 
ht  not  to 
»  commit- 
could  not 
uld  imply 
An  iiidul- 
cli,  is  not, 
iittle  or 
ment  due 
i»  of  sin  is 
lore  tliaii 
such  sin. 
xeinptioii 
is  aivvays 
sably  ne- 
works  o{ 
ches  that 
t^"e,§  and 

it-^-y\\  and 

Ration  of 
justified 

•  partake 

is  incon- 
believe, 

iuigence 

ification 

f)Iics  on 

led  with 

imputed 
thrown 

on)  {)\\v 

nt  calls 


rrs. 


r<i  nt  \]w. 
xciUi  sin- 
of  llicir 
Dm,  nnd 
of  GcxJ, 


indulgences  heavenly  treasures,*  we  hold  that  it  would  be  a 
sacrilegious  crime  in  any  person  whomsoever  to  be  concerned 
in  buying  or  selling  them.  I  am  far,  however,  Rev.  sir,  from 
denying  that  indulgences  have  ever  been  soldf — alas  !  what  is 
so  sacred  that  the  avarice  of  men  has  not  put  up  to  sale  !  Christ 
himself  was  sold,  and  that  by  an  apostle,  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver.  I  do  not  retort  upon  you  the  advertisements  I  frequent- 
ly see  in  the  newspapers  about  buying  and  selling  benefices, 
with  the  cure  of  souls  annexed  to  them,  in  your  church ;  but 
this  I  contend  for,  that  the  Catholic  church,  so  far  from  sanc- 
tioning this  detestable  simony,  has  used  her  utmost  pains,  par- 
ticularly in  the  general  councils  of  Lateran,  Lyons,  Vienne, 
and  Trent,  to  prevent  it. 

To  explain,  now,  in  a  clear  and  regular  manner,  what  an  in^ 
dulgence  is;  I  suppose,  first,  that  no  one  will  deny  that  a  sove 
reign  prince,  in  showing  mercy  to  a  capital  convict,  may  either 
grant  him  a  remission  of  all  punishment,  or  may  leave  him  sub- 
ject to  some  lighter  punishment :  of  course  he  will  allow  that 
the  Almighty  may  act  in  either  of  these  ways  with  respect  to 
sinners.     II.  I  equally  suppose  thai  no  person,  who  is  versed  in 
the  Bible,  will  deny  that  many  instances  occur  there  of  God's 
remitting  the  essential  guilt  of  sin  and  the  eternal  punishment 
due  to  it,  and  yet  leaving  a  temporary  punishment  to  be  en- 
dured by  the  penitent  siinier.     Thus,  for  example,  the  sentence 
of  spiritual  death  and  everlasthi^  torments  was  remitted  to  our 
first  father,  upon  his  repentance,  but  not  that  of  corporal  dtath. 
Thus,  also  when  God  reversed  his  scn^,   ♦  sentence  against  the 
idolatrous  Israelites,  he  added,  Js'avertkeitss,  in  the  day  when  1 
visit,  I  will  visit  their  sin  upon  them.  Exod.  xxxii.  34.     Thus, 
again,  when  the  inspired  Nathan  said  to  the  nuvlel  of  penitents, 
David,  The.  Lord  hath  put  away  ii.'^  sin,  he  added,  nevertheless, 
the  child  that  is  born  unto  thee  shall  die.  2  Kings,  alias  Sam.  xii. 
14.     Finally,  when  Djvid's  heart  smote  him,  after  he  had  num- 
hered  the  people,  the  fiOrd,  in  pardoning  him,  oiFered  him  by 
his  prophet,  Gad,  the  choice  of  three  temporal  punishments 
war,   famine,   and  pestilence.    Ilnd.  xxiv.     HI.  The  Catliolir 
church  teaches  that  the  same  is  still  the  common  course  of 
God's  mercy  and  wisdom,  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  committed 
after  baptism ;  since  she  has  formally  condemned  the  proposi- 


♦  SCSS.  XXI.  .!.  9. 

t  Th«»  hisliop  (.lis  \\n  thnf  hr  \n  in  nowpssioii  <»f  im  iiidulRPncc,  L.tely  jfranti;*!  nt 
Uotno,  f«»r  ii  .Niii'.ill  Niim  of  inoiiry  ;  i)iit  lit*  Akh^h  not  say  who  Ki"Uit(!il  it.  In  liki; 
manniT  !in  may  buy  lorgiu!  Dunk  Motc«  anJ  cinintcrft-il  coin  in  London  very  cheap, 
if  !i(!  pIcuiiCii. 


263 


Letter  XLIl 


tion,  that  "  every  penitent  sinner,  wlio,  after  the  grace  of  Just(* 
fiication,  obtains  the  remission  of  his  guilt  and  eternal  punish- 
ment, obtains  also  the  remission  of  all  temporal  punishment."* 
The  essential  guilt  and  eternal  punishment  of  sin,  she  declares, 
can  only  be  '?xpiated  by  the  precious  merits  of  our  Redeemer, 
Jesus  Christ;  but  a  certain  temporal  punishment  God  reserves 
for  the  penitent  himself  to  endure,  "  lest  the  easiness  of  his  par- 
don should  make  him  careless  about  falling  back  into  sin."| 
Hence  satisfaction  for  this  temporal  punishment  has  been  insti- 
tuted by  Christ  as  a  part  of  the  sacrament  of  penance;  and 
hence    "  a   Christian  life,"   as   the  council    has    said   above, 
"  ought  to  be  a  penitential  life."     This  council  at  the  same 
time,  declares,  that  this  very  satisfaction  for  temporal  punish- 
ment is  only  efficacious  through  Jesus  Christ. X    Nevertheless,  as 
the  promise  of  Christ  to  the  apostles,  and  St.  Peter  in  particu- 
lar, and  to  their  successors,  is  unlimited :  WHATSOEVER 
you  shall  loose  upon  earthy  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven^  Mat. 
xviii.  18 — xvi.  19;  hence  the  church  believes  and  teaches  that 
her  jurisdiction  extends  to  this  very  satisfaction,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  remit  it  wholly  or  partially,  in  certain  circumstances,  by 
what  is  called  an  INDULGENCE.^     St.  Paul  exercised  this 
power  in  behalf  of  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  at  his  conversion 
and  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  2  Cor.  ii.  10;  and  the  church 
has  claimtxl  and  exercised  the  same  power  ever  since  the  time 
of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present.  ||     V.  Still  this  power,  like 
that  of  absolution,  is  not  arbitrary;  there  must  be  a  just  cause 
for  the  exercise  of  it,  namely,  the  greater  good  of  the  penitent, 
or  of  the  faithful,  or  of  Christendom  in  general ;  and  there  must 
be  a  certain  proportion  between  the  punishment  remitted  and 
the  good  work  performed. If     Hence  no  one  can  ever  be  sure 
thaf  he  has  gained  the  entire  benefit  of  an  indulgence,  though 
he  has  performed  all  the  conditions  appointed  for  this  ?nd  :** 
and  hence,  of  course,  the  pastors  of  the  church  will  have  to  an- 
swer for  it,  if  they  take  upon  themselves  to  grant  indulgences 
for  unworthy  or  insufficient  purposes.     VI.  Lastly,  it  is  the  re- 
ceived doctrine  of  the  church  that  an  indulgence,  when  truly 
gained,  is  not  barely  a  relaxation  of  the  canonical  penance  en- 
joined by  the  church,  but  also  an  actual  remission  by  God  of  the 


voting 


*  Cone  Trld.  Spss.  vi.  can.  30. 
t  Sess  vi.  cap.  7,  cap.  14.    Seas.  xir.  cap.  8L 
}  8cm.  xiv.  M. 

^  Trid.  Sew.  xxv.   De  Indiilg. 

H  Tertul.  in  Lib.  ad  Miirtvi.  c.  i.     St.  Cvpr.  1.  X   Epl.st.  Conril.  i.    Nlc.  Ancyr 
tie  H  BcUarm.  Lib.  I  De  Indultf-  c.  12.  **  Ibid. 


Jitter  XLIL 


263 


'  of  Justi* 
1  punish- 
hment."* 
declares, 
Ledeemer, 
i  reserves 
f  his  par- 
te sin."| 
een  insti- 
nee;  and 
above, 
the  same 
punish- 
leless,  as 
1  particu- 
OEVER 
yen,  Mat. 
ches  that 
o  be  able 
nces,  hy 
:ised  this 
inversion 
le  chnrch 
the  time 
wer,  like 
ust  cause 
penitent, 
lere  must 
tted  and 
r  be  sure 
,  though 
^nd  :** 
e  to  an- 
uigences 
3  the  re- 
en  truly 
ance  en- 
>d  of  the 


tvhole  or  part  of  the  temporal  punishment  due  to  it  in  his  sight. 
The  contrary  opinion,  though  held  by  some  theologians,  has 
been  condemned  by  Leo  X,*  and  Pius  VI  :f  and  indeed,  with- 
out the  effect  here  mentioned,  indulgences  would  not  be  heaven," 
ly  treasures,  and  the  use  of  them  would  not  be  bsnejicial,  but  rw 
ther  pernicious  to  Christians,  contiary  to  two  deciaraiions  of  the 
last  general  council,  as  Bellarmln  well  argues.| 

The  above  explanation  of  an  indulgence,  conformably  to  the 
doctrine  of  Theologians,  the  decrees  of  Popes,  and  the  defini- 
tions of  Councils,  ought  to  silence  the  objections  and  suppress 
the  sarcasms  of  Protestants  on  this  bead :  but  if  it  be  not  suffi- 
cient for  such  purpose,  I  would  gladly  argue  a  few  points  with 
them  concerning  their  own  indulgences.     Metliinks,  Rev.  sir,  I 
see  you  start  at  the  mention  of  this,  and  hear  you  ask,  what  Pro- 
testants hold  the  doctrine  of  indulgences  ? — I  answer  you ;  all 
the  leading  sects  of  them,  with  which  I  am  acquainted.    To  be- 
gin with  the  church  of  England  :  one  of  the  first  articles  I  meet 
with  in  its  canons,  regards  indulgences  and  the  use  that  is  to  be 
made  of  the  money  paid  for  them.^     In  the  synod  of  1640,  a 
canon  was  made  which  authorized  the  employment  of  comnin- 
tation-monv?y,  namely,  of  such  sums  as  were  paid  for  indulgen- 
ces from  ecclesiastical  penances,  not  only  in  charitable,  but  also 
in  public  uses. II     At  this  period  the  established  clergy  were  de- 
voting all  the  money  they  could  any  way  procure  to  the  war 
which  Charles  I.  was  preparing  in  defence  of  the  church  and 
state  against  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  and  England :  so 
that,  in  fact,  the  money  then  raised  by  indulgences  was  employ- 
ed in  a  real  crusade.     It  has  been  before  stated  that  the  second 
offspring  of  Protestantism,  the  Anabaptists,  claimed  an  indul- 


'  iiU 


ic.  Anc^. 


♦  Art.  19,  inter  Art.  Damn.  Lutheri. 

t  Const.  Jluctor.  Fid.  t  L.  i.  c.  7,  prop.  4. 

^  "  Ne  quae  fiat  posthac  solftmnis  pciiitcntia5  commutatio  nisi  rationibus,  gravio- 
ribus  que  de  causis,  &c.  Dcinde  quod  nuilota  ilia  peouniariavel  in  relcvam  pau- 
peruni,  vel  in  ulio»i  pios  usus  erofcctur."    Articidi  pro  CIcro,  A.  D.  1584,  Sparrow, 

C.  104.     The  next  article  is,  "  I)e  modcrandis  (|uil)usdam  indulpentiis  procele- 
ratione  matrimonii,"  &c.  p.  195.     These  indulgences  wore  renewed,  under  the 
same  titles,  in  tiie  Synod  held  in  Loudon  in  15!)7.     Sparrow,  pp.  248.  252. 

II  "  That  no  Chancellor,  Commissary  or  Otfirial,  shall  have  power  to  commute 
any  pcjianco,  in  whole  or  in  part ;  but  either,  to^cother  with  the  bishop,  Stc.  that  ho 
shall  give  a  full  !vnd  just  account  of  su(!ii  conunututions,  to  the  liishop,  who  shall 
dec  that  all  sucih  moncvs  shall  he  dis|)os(ul  of  for  ciiaritaltle  and  puhlic  uses,  aceord- 
in«  to  law — saving  always  to  ecclesiastical  ollicers  their  rfitc  unil  uamtomable Jees.^ 
Canon  14,  Sparrow,  p.  .1(!3 — In  the  remonstrance  of  jrrievunccs  presented  hy  a 
committee  of  the  Irish  parliament  to  Cliarli!s  I,  one  of  thorn  was,  that  "  Several  bi- 
shops received  xrtMit  sums  of  money  /lu'  ci>inmi(tnti<»i  nf  lununer  (that  is  for  indulj^erv 
ces)  which  they  converlod  to  their  own  u.se."  Commons  J(»uru.  quoted  by  Curry 
Vol  i.  p.  \&3.  •" 


S04 


Letter  XLIl. 


genre  from  God  himself,  in  quality  of  his  chosen  ones,  to  despoil 
the  impiouS;  namely,  all  the  rest  of  mankind,  of  their  property 
while  the  genuine  Calvinists,  of  all  times,  have  ever  maintained 
that  Christ  has  set  them  free  from  the  observance  of  eyery  law 
of  God  as  well  as  of  man.  Agreeebly  to  this  tenet,  sir  Richard 
Hill  says,  *'  It  is  a  most  pernicious  error  of  the  schoolmen  to 
distinguish  sins  according  to  the  fact,  and  not  according  to  tlie 
person."*  With  respect  to  patriarch  Luther,  it  is  notorious 
that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  granting  indulgences,  of  various 
kinds,  to  himself  and  his  disciples.  Thus,  for  example,  he  dis- 
pensed with  himself  and  Catharine  Boren  from  their  vows  of  a 
religious  life,  and  particularly  that  of  celibacy :  and  even 
preached  up  adultery  in  his  public  sermons. f  In  like  manner 
he  published  Bulls,  authorizing  the  robbery  of  bishops  and  bi- 
shoprics, and  the  murder  of  Popes  and  cardinals.  But  the  most 
celebrated  of  his  indulgences  is  that  whicli,  in  conjunction  with 
Bucer  and  Melancthon,  he  granted  to  Pliilip,  Landgrave  of 
Hesse,  in  consideration  of  the  latter's  protection  of  Protestam- 
ism,  for  so  it  is  stated,  to  marry  a  second  wife,  his  former  being 
living.f  But  if  any  credit  is  due  to  this  same  Bucer,  who,  for 
his  learning,  was  invited  by  Cranmer  and  the  duke  of  Somerset 
into  England,  and  made  the  divinity  professor  of  Cambridge, 
the  whole  business  of  the  pretended  Reformation  was  an  indul- 
gence for  libertinism.  His  words  are  these :  "  The  greater 
part  of  the  people  seem  only  to  have  embraced  tht  Gospel,  in 
order  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  discipline  and  tb.  obligation  of 
fasting,  penance,  he.  which  lay  upon  them  in  Popery,  and  to 
live  at  their  pleasure,  enjoying  their  lusts  and  lawless  appetites, 
without  controul.  Hence  they  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  doc- 
trine that  we  are  saved  by  faith  alone,  and  not  by  good  works, 
having  no  relish  for  them."^ 

I  am,  &c. 

J.M. 


♦  Fietcbcr's  Checks,  vol.  lit 

t  "  Pi  nolit  Domina,  venial  ancilla,  &c."  Serm.  De  Matrim.  t  t. 

J  This  infamous  indulgence,  with  the  deeds  belonging  to  it,  was  puWifhed  from 
the  original  by  permiH8ion  of  a  descendant  of  the  Landgrave,  and  republubed  by 
Douiuet.     Variat  book  vi.  ^  bucer.  De  Uckh.  Chris.  1.  i.  c.  4. 


[    265    ] 


(T-n 


■~    '.v.UV  \' 


v-x<A   •■'■•*^  'H^itt  ^'■'-A* 


^'GSjWm    i,  :  •.:int  ^rj;-.'!- -!;:'!  ■iuj^^f-    •■.■'-' 
■(I  i)-.V'f!    i       .i^''  .ux   .■  ■  N 

,,.<!  ,4.1  ii;  ./,!<,u  ^-  LETTER  XLIII.  :•  i— 'i  -hi  4,-,,  -jir,,^ 
To  //le  Eev.  ROBERT  CLA  YTON,  M,  A,         mv 

OJV PURGATORY  AJW  PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


Rev.  Sir,  ..,  ,,.,'.   ,,.,•/.'..., .  ■ 

In  the  natural  order  of  our  controversies,  this  is  the  proper 
place  to  treat  of  purgatory  and  prayers  for  the  dead.  On  this 
suhject,  bishop  Porteus  begins  with  saying,  "There  is  no 
Scripture  procfof  the  existence  of  purgatory:  heaven  and  hell 
we  read  of  perpetually  in  tlie  Bible;  but  purgatory  we  never 
meet  with :  though  surely,  if  there  be  such  a  place,  Christ  and 
his  apostles  would  not  have  concealed  it  from  us."*  I  might 
expose  the  inconclusiveness  of  this  argument  by  the  following 
parallel  one;  the  Scripture  nowhere  commands  us  to  keep  the 
Jirst  day  of  the  tveek  holy :  we  perpetually  read  of  sanctifying 
the  Sahbatli^  or  Saturday;  but  never  meet  with  the  Sunday,  as 
a  day  of  obligation;  though,  if  there  be  such  an  obligation, 
Christ  and  his  apostles  would  not  have  concealed  it  from  us ! 
I  might  likewise  answer,  with  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  that  the  in- 
spired Epistles  (and  I  may  add  the  Gospels  also)  "  are  not  to 
he  considered  as  regular  treatises  upon  the  Christian  religion. "t 
But  I  meet  the  objection  in  front,  by  saying,  first,  that  the 
apostles  did  teach  their  converts  the  doctrine  of  purgatory, 
among  their  other  doctrines,  as  St.  Chrysostom  testifies,  and 
tiie  tradition  of  the  church  proves  ;  secondly,  that  the  same  is 
demonstratively  evinced  from  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Tes- 
tament. 

To  begin  with  the  Old  Testament ;  I  claim  a  right  of  consi- 
dering the  two  first  Books  of  MaChabees  as  an  integral  part  of 
them;  because  the  Catholic  church  so  considers  them,t  from 
whose  tradition,  and  not  from  that  of  the  Jews,  as  St.  Austin 
signifies,§  our  sacred  canon  is  to  be  formed.  Now  in  the 
second  of  these  books,  it  is  related  that  the  pious  general,  Judas 
Machabeus,  sent  twelve  thousand  drachmas  to  Jerusalem  for 
sacrifices,  to  be  offered  for  his  soldiers,  slain  in  battle,  aftei 


*  Confiil.  p.  4n.  t  Elem.  of  Theol.  vol.  i.  p.  277. 

\  Concil.  Cartag.  iii.    St.  Cyp.  St.  Aug.  luuuc.  I.  Gclus,  &Ui, 
;  Lib.  Iii.  De  Civ.  Doi. 

2h 


266 


LeMer  XLTJl. 


which  narration,  tlie  inspiierl  writer  concludes  thus :  li  i$  there' 
fore  a  holy  and  a  wholesome  thought  to  pray  for  the  dead,,  that 
they  may  be  loosed  from  their  sins.  2  Mac.  ::ii.  46.     I  need  not 
point  out  the  inseparable  connexion  there  is  between  the  prac- 
tice of  praying  for  the  dead  and  the  belief  of  an  intermediate 
state  of  souls,  since  it  is  evidently  needless  to  pray  for  the  saints 
in  heaven,  and  useless  to  pray  for  the  reprobate  in  hell.     But, 
even  Protestants,  who  do  not  receive  the  Books  of  Machabeet, 
as  canonical  Sf^ripture,  venerate  them  as  authentic  and  hojy 
records:  as  suth,  then,  they  bear  conclusive  testimony  of  the 
belief  of  God's  people,  on  this  head,  one  hundred  and  (ifty 
years  before  Christ^     That  the  Jews  were  in  the  habit  of  prac- 
tising some  religious  rites  for  the  relief  of  the  departed,  at  the 
beginning  of  Christianity,  is  clear  from  St.  Paul's  first  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  who  mentions  them,  without  any  censure  of 
them  J*  and  that  this  people  continue  to  pray  for  their  de- 
ceased brethren,  at  the  present  time,  may  be  learned  from  any 
living  Jew.  '  '', 

To  come  now  to  the  l^cw  Testament :  what  place,  I  ask,  must 
that  be,  which  our  Saviour  calls  Abraham^  boson^  where  the 
soul  of  Lazarus  reposed,  Luke  xvi.  22,  among  the  other  just 
souls,  till  he  by  his  sacred  passion  paid  their  ransom  ?  Not 
heaven,  otherwise  Dives  would  have  addressed  himself  to  God 
instead  of  Abraham;  but  evidently  a  middle  state,  as  St.  Austin 
teaches. f  Again,  of  what  place  is  it  that  St.  Peter  speaks» 
where  he  says,  Christ  died  for  our  sins :  being  put  to  death  in 
the  flesh,  but  enlivened  in  the  spirit ;  in  which  also  coming,  he 
preached  to  those  spirits  that  were  in  prison.  1  Pet.  iii.  19.  It 
is  evidently  the  same  which  is  mentioned  in  the  apostles'  creed  : 
He  descended  into  hell :  not  the  hell  of  the  damned,  to  sufler 
their  torments,  as  the  blasphemer,  Calvin,  asserts,f  but  the 
prison  above-mentioned,  or  Abraham's  bosom,  in  short,  a  middle 
state.  It  is  of  this  prison,  according  to  the  holy  fathers,*^  our 
blessed  Master  speaks,  where  he  says,  /  tell  thee,  thou  shalt  not 
depart  thence,  till  thou  hast  paid  the  very  last  mite.  Luke  xii. 
59.  Lastly,  what  other  sense  can  that  passage  of  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  bear,  than  that  which  the  holy  fa- 
thers affix  to  it,  II  where  the  apostle  says,  Tlie  day  of  the  Lord 


♦  Elsfi  what  shall  they  do  who  are  baptized  for  tlic  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  alll 
Fffci/  are  they  Uien  baptized  for  them  1     1  Cor.  xv.  29. 

t  De  CiTit.  Dei,  1.  xv.  c.  20.  i  Instit.  1.  ii.  c.  16. 

^  Tertul.  St.  Cypr.  Origcn,  St.  AmbroHC,  St.  Jcrom,  &,c. 

U  Origen,  Horn  14  in  l.evit.  &.c.  Kt.  Ambrose  in  Ps.  1 18.  St.  Jerom,  1.  2.  con- 
tra Jovin.    St.  Aug.  in  Ps.  37,  where  he  prays  thus :  "  Purify  mo,  O  Lord,  in  thia 


life,  th! 

*  St 
t  P. 
i  la 


r 


is  iherc' 
e  dead.,  that 

I  need  not 
en  the  prac- 
ntermediate 
or  the  saints 

hell.  But, 
Machabeei-, 
c  and  holy 
mony  of  the 
jd  and  fifty 
ibit  of  r.rar- 
irted,  at  the 
first  Epistle 
y  censure  of 
3r  their  de- 
ed from  any 


I  ask,  must 
where  the 
other  just 
tisom  ?  Not 
nself  to  God 
sis  St.  Austin 
*eter  speak  s> 
\t  to  death  in 


to  commgj 


he 


t.  ill.  19.  It 
jstles'  creed : 
ed,  to  sufler 
ts,J  but  the 
ort,  a  middle 
fathers,*^  our 
hou  shah  not 
le.  Luke  xii. 
3f  St.  Paul's 
the  holy  fa- 
of  the  Lord 

id  rise  not  atallt 


Jcrom,  1.  2.  con- 
:,  U  Lurd,  in  thia 


Letter  XLIIL 


267 


shall  he  revealed  by  Jire^  and  the  fire  shall  try  every  vMn^s  worfi 
of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work  abide,  he  shall  receive  a 
reward.  If  any  man's  work  be  burnt,  he  shall  suffer  loss ;  but 
he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire.  1  Cor.  iii.  13,  16 
The  prelate's  diversified  attempts  to  explain  away  these  Scrip- 
tur^.i  proofs  of  purt:itory,  are  really  too  feeble  and  inconsistent 
lo  riierit  being  even  mentioned.  1  might  here  add,  as  a  further 
proof,  the  denunciation  of  Christ,  concerning  blasphemy  against 
the  Hcly  Ghost :  namely,  that  this  sin  shall  not  be  forgiven 
cither  m  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come,  Mat.  xii.  32 :  which 
words  clearly  imply,  that  some  sins  are  forgiven  in  the  world  to 
come,  as  the  ancient  fathers  show  :*  but  I  hasten  to  the  proofs 
of  this  doctrine  from  tradition,  on  which  head  the  prelate  is  so 
\l\  advised  as  to  challenge  Catholics. 

11.  Bp.  Porteus,  then,  acivances,  that  "  Purgatory,  in  the 
present  Popish  sense,  was  not  heard  of  for  four  hundred  years 
after  Christ;  nor  universally  received  for  one  thousand  years, 
nor  almost  in  any  other  church  than  that  of  Rome  to  this  day."f 
Here  are  no  less  than  three  egregious  falsities,  which  I  proceed 
to  show,  after  stating  what  his  lordship  seems  not  to  know, 
namely,  that  all  which  is  necessary  to  be  believed,  on  this  sub- 
ject, is  contained  in  the  following  brief  declaration  of  the  coun- 
cil of  Trent :  "  There  is  a  purgatory,  and  the  souls,  detained 
there,  are  helped  by  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  and  particularly 
by  the  acceptable  sacrifice  of  the  altar."  J  St.  Chrysostom,  the 
light  of  the  eastern  church,  flourished  within  three  hundred 
years  of  the  age  of  the  apostles,  and  must  be  admitted  as  an 
unexceptionable  witness  of  the  '•  doctrine  and  practice.  Now 
he  writes  as  follows :  "  It  was  not  without  good  reason  OR- 
DAINED BY  THE  APOSTLES,  that  mention  should  be 
made  of  the  dead  in  the  tremendous  mysteries,  because  they 
knew  well  that  these  would  receive  great  benefit  from  it."<^ 
Tertullian,  who  lived  in  the  tige  next  to  that  of  the  apostles, 
speaking  of  a  pious  widow,  says,  "  She  prays  for  the  soul  of 
her  husband,  and  begs  refreshment|j  for  him."  Similar  testi- 
monies of  St.  Cyprian,  in  the  following  age  are  numerous  ?  I 
shall  satisfy  myself  with  quoting  one  of  them,  where,  describing 
the  diflerence  between  some  sou  is,  which  are  immediately  ad- 
mitted into  heaven,  and  others,  which  are  detained  in  purga- 

-•.      .'    ^  ■:•     ;'i    -     ,  ,  -     •  .  -      .  ,. 

life,  that  I  may  not  need  the  chastising  fire  of  those  loho  will  be  saved,  yet  so  aa  by 
fire:' 

*  St.  Aug.  Dc  Civit  Dei. !.  95^ . .  ;/,.i.  .r   Greg.  1.  4.  Dialog.  Bed  in  cap.  3,  Marc. 

t  P.  50.  ^    4  Scss.  XXV.  De  Purg;. 

^  In  cap.  i.  Fb'dip.  Hum.  3.     "  U  L.  De  Mouogam.  c.  10. 


268 


tory,  he 


Letter  XLUL 


M 


It 


thi 


be 


for 


IS  one  thing  to  be  waiting  lor  pardrm ;  an- 
other to  attain  to  glory :  one  thing  to  be  sent  to  prison,  not  to 
go  froi    thence  till  the  last  farthing  is  paid ;  another  to  receive 
immediately  the  reward  of  faith  and  vL  las  :  one  thing  to  suffer 
lengthened  torments  for  sin,  ^d  to  bj?  chastised  and  purified  for 
a  long  time  in  that  fire ;  another  to  have  cleansed  away  all  sin 
by  suflering,"*  namely,  by  martyrdom.     It  would  take  up  too 
much  time  to  quote  authorities  on  this  subject  from  St.  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem,  Eusebius,  St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Jerom, 
St.  Augustin,  and  several  other  ancient  fathers  and  writers,  who 
demonstrate,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  church  was  the  same  tha 
it  is  now,  not  only  within  a  thousand,  but  also  within  four  hun- 
dred years  from  the  time  of  Christ,  with  respect  both  to  pray- 
ers for  the  dead,  and  an  intermediate  state,  which  we  call  pur- 
gatory.    How  express  is  the  authority  of  the  last  named  father, 
in  particular,  where  he  says  and  repeats,  "  Through  the  pray- 
ers and  sacrifices  of  the  church  and  alms-deeds,  God  deals 
mtjre  mercifully  with  the  departed  than  their  sins  deserve  !"f 
How  aflecting  is  this  saint's  account  of  the  death  of  his  mother, 
St.  Monica,  when  she  entreated  him  to  remember  her  soul  at 
the  altar,  and  when,  after  her  decease,  he  performed  this  duty,  in 
ordd,   as  he  declares,  "  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  her  sins  !"|  As 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  oriental  churches,  which  the  bishop  signi- 
ti"  ?  ss  conformable  to  that  of  his  own,  I  affirm,  as  a  fact,  which 
h\u  been  demonstrated,'^  that  there  is  not  one  of  them  which 
agrees  with  it,  nor  one  of  them  which  does  not  agree  with  the 
Catholic  church,  in  the  only  two  points  defined  by  her,  namely, 
as  to  there  being  a  middle  state,  which  we  call  purgatory,  and 
as  to  the  souls,  detained  in  it,  being  helped  by  the  prayers  of 
the  living  faithful.     True  it  is,  they  do  not  generally  believe, 
that  these  souls  are  punished  by  a  material  fire ;  but  neither 
does  our  church  require  a  belief  of  this  opinion ;  and  accord- 
ingly,  she  made  a  union  with  the  Greeks  in  the  council  of 
Florence,  on  their  barely  confessing  and  subscribing  the  afore- 
said two  articles.  i  :  ,    i  i  ;  n 

HI.  I  should  do  an  injury.  Rev.  sir,  to  my  cause,  were  I  to 
pass  over  the  concessions  of  eminent  Protestant  prelates  and 
other  writers  on  the  matter  in  debate.  On  some  occasions  Lu- 
ther adrr'ts  of  purgatory,  as  an  article  founded  on  Scripture.  || 
Melancthon  confesses  that  the  ancients  prayed  for  the  dead,  and 


V 


*  S.  Cjpr.  1.  4.  ep.  2.  t  Serm.  172,  Enchirid.  cap.  109, 110. 

X  Confess.  I.  ix.  c.  13. 

^  See  the  Confessions  of  the  different  Oriental  churches  in  the  Ferpetuitd,  &o 
3  A88erti')neS;LArt37._Disput.  Lcipsic. 


Letter  XLIIL 


269 


?a;  an- 
)n,  not  to 
receive 
to  suffer 
|rified  for 
all  sin 
e  up  too 
Cyril  of 
.  Jerom, 
ers,  who 
me  tha 
ur  huu- 
o  pray- 
'all  pur- 
1  father, 
le  pray- 
d  deals 
erve  !"•!• 

mother, 

soul  at 

duty,  in 

'  !"J  As 

•p  signi- 

t,  which 

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ivith  the 

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lyers  of 

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says  that  the  Lutherans  do  not  find  fault  with  it.*  Calvin  inti- 
mates, that  the  souls  of  all  the  just  are  detained  in  Abraham's 
bosom  till  the  day  of  judgment. f  In  the  first  liturgy  of  the 
church  of  England,  which  was  drawn  up  by  Cranmer  and  Rid- 
ley, and  declared  by  act  of  parliament  to  have  been  framed  by 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost^  there  is  an  express  prayer  for  the 
departed,  that  "  God  would  grant  them  mercy  and  everlasting 
peace."!  ^*  ^^^  ^^  shown  that  the  following  bishops  of  your 
church  believed  that  the  dead  ouglit  to  be  prayed  for,  Andrews, 
Usher,  Montague,  Taylor,  -,   Sheldon,  Barrow  of  St. 

Asaph's  and  Blandford.§    T'  nay  add  the  religious  Dr. 

Johnson,  whose  published  M  ove,  that  he  constantly 

prayed  for  his  deceased  wife.  lat  need  is  there  of  more 

words  on  the  subject,  when  it  is  ciea.  that  modern  Protestants, 
in  shutting  up  the  Catholic  purgatory  for  imperfect  just  souls, 
have  opened  another  general  one  for  them,  and  all  the  wicked 
of  every  sort  whatsoever !     It  is  well  known  that  the  disciples 
of  Calvin,  at  Geneva,  and,  perhaps,  every  where  else,  instead 
of  adhering  to  his  doctrine,  in  condemning  mortals  to  eternal 
torments,  without  any  fault  on  their  part,  now  hold  that  the 
most  confirmed  in  guilt  and  the  finally  impenitent  shall,  in  the 
end,  be  saved  :||  thus  establishing,  as  Fletcher  of  Madeley  ob- 
serves, "  a  general  purgatory."ir     A  late  celebrated  theologi- 
cal, as  well  as  philosophical  writer  of  our  own  country,  Dr. 
Priestly,  being  on  his  deathbed,  called  for  Simpson's  work  On 
the  Duration  of  Future  Punishment,  which  he  recommended  in 
these  terms :  "  It  contains  my  sentiments :  we  shall  all  meet 
finally :  we  only  require  different  degrees  of  discipline,  suited 
to  our  different  tempers,  to  prepare  us  for  final  happiness."** 
Here  again  is  a  general  Protestant  purgatory  :  and  why  should 
Satan  and  his  crew  be  denied  the  benefit  of  it  ?    But  to  confine 
myself  to  eminent  divines  of  the  established  church.     One  of 
its  celebrated  preachers,  who,  of  course,  "  never  mentions  hell 
to  ears  polite,"  expresses  his  wish,  "  to  banish  the  subject  of 
everlasting  punishment  from  all  pulpits,  as  containing  a  doc- 
trine, at  once  improper  and  uncertain,"! f  which  sentiment  is 
applauded  by  another  eminent  divine,  who  reviews  that  sermon 


♦  Apolog.  Conf.  Aug.  t  Instit.  1.  iii.  c.  5. 

t  See  the  form  in  Collier's  Ecc.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  257. 

^  Collier's  Hist— N.  B.  The  present  bishop  of  Exeter,  in  a  sermon  just  ptibllsb' 
ed,  prays  for  the  soul  of  our  poor  princess  Charlotte,  "  as  far  as  this  is  lawftll  atiut 
profitable.*'  .  /  « 

I  Encyclo.  Art.  Geneva.  IT  Checks  to  Antinom.  vol.  ^^ 

*♦  See  Edinb.  Review.  Oct.  1806.  -        .         .-! 

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IQ  the  British  Critic.*  Another  modern  divine  censure^  "  the 
threat  of  eternal  perdition  as  a  cause  of  infidelity."'!'  The  re- 
nowned Dr.  Paley,  (bnt  here  we  are  getting  into  quite  rtbvel 
fystems  of  theology,  which  will  force  a  smile  from  its  old  stu- 
dents, notwithstanding  the  awfulness  of  the  subject)  Dr.  Paley, 
I  say,  so  far  softens  the  punishment  of  the  infernal  re^ons,  as 
to  suppose  that,  "  There  may  be  very  little  to  choose  between 
the  condition  of  some  who  are  in  hell,  and  others  who  are  in 
heaven  !"|  In  the  same  liberal  spirit  the  Cambridge  professor 
of  divinity  teaches,  that  "  God's  wrath  and  damnation  are  more 
terrible  in  the  sound  than  the  sense  !<^  and  that  being  damned 
does  not  imply  any  fixed  degree  of  evil." ||  In  another  part  of 
his  Lectures,  he  expresses  his  hope,  and  quotes  Dr.  Hartley,  as 
expressing  the  same,  that  "  all  men  will  be  ultimately  happy, 
when  punishment  has  done  its  work  in  reforming  principles  and 
conduct."*r  If  this  sentiment  be  not  sufficiently  explicit  in  fa- 
vour of  pnrgatory,  take  the  following,  from  a  passage  in  whidh 
he  is  directly  lecturing  on  the  subject.  "  With  regard  to  the  doc- 
trine of  purgatory,  though  it  may  not  be  founded  either  in  rea- 
son or  in  Scripture,  it  is  nQt  nnnatural.  Who  can  bear  the 
thought  of  dwelling  in  everlasting  torments  ?  Yet  who  can  say 
that  a  God  everlastingly  just,  will  not  inllict  them  f  The  mind 
of  man  seeks  for  some  resource :  it  finds  one  only ;  in  conceiv- 
ing that  some  temporary  punishment,  after  death,  may  purify 
the  soul  from  its  moral  pollutions,  and  make  it,  at  last,  accept- 
able, even  to  a  deity,  infinitely  pure."** 

IV.  Bishop  Porteus  intimates  that  the  doctrine  of  a  middle 
state  of  souls  was  borrowed  from  Pagan  fable  and  philosophy. 
—In  answer  to  tliis,  I  say,  that,  if  Plato,f  f  Virgil,  and  other 
heathens,  ancient  and  modern,  as  likewise  Mahomet  and  his 
disciples,  together  with  the  Protestant  writers  quoted  above, 
have  embraced  this  doctrine,  it  only  shows  how  conformable  it 
b  to  the  dictates  of  natural  religion.  I  have  proved,  by  va- 
rious arguments,  that  a  temporary  punishment  generally  re- 
mains due^  to  sin,  after  the  guilt  and  eternal  punishment  due  to 
it,  have  been  remitted.  Again,  we  know  from  Scripture,  that 
even  the  just,  man  falls  seven  timeSf  Prov.  xxiv.  17,  and  that  men 

♦  BrIUsh  Critic,  Jan.  1809.  ..       ...       "''/  "^'"^'^ 'wo^^  ♦ 

t  kev.Mr.Polwhele'aLettoDr.Hawker  •  »  n<  jii  ^: 

t  Morml  ux!  PoUt  Philos.  ^  I.ect  vol.  iil.  p.  154.       '*«     I  IWd. '  * 

%  Vol.  ii.  p.  390.    It  iatobe  observed  that  tlie  doctrine  of  the  flnal  salvation  of 

the  wicked  is  expressly  condemned  in  the  42d  Article  of  the  church  of  England^  A. 

D.  1552.  *♦  Vol.iv.jp.lia. 

ft  Plato  In  Gorgia,  Virgil*!  JEiMid,L  6,  the  Koran.     .»      „    , 


Letter  XLIU, 


271 


5ure5  "the 
'    There- 
juite  iifbvel 
its  old  stu- 
Dr.Paley, 
fegions,  as 
ie  between 
who  are  in 
J  professor 
n  are  more 
ig  damned 
ler  part  of 
lartley,  as 
\y  happy, 
ciples  and 
licit  in  fa- 
i  in  which 
o  the  doc- 
er  in  rea- 
bear  the 

0  can  say 
The  mind 

1  conceiv- 
ay  purify 
it,  accept- 

a  middle 
ilosophy. 
and  other 
:  and  his 
d  above, 
rmable  it 
i,  by  va- 
ralJy  re- 
it  due  to 
ure,  that 
that  men 

■»'!<«;  ^   ♦ 

(..     •        , 

thid. 

olration  of 
ngland^  A. 


tnvat  give  an  account  of  every  idle  word  that  they  speak,  Mat.  li^ 
36.     On  the  other  hand,  we  are  conscious  that  there  is  not  an 
instant  of  our  life,  in  which  this  may  not  suddenly  terminate, 
without  the   possibility  of  our  calling  upon  God  for  mercy. 
What  then,  I  ask,  will  become  of  souls  which  are  surprised  in 
either  of  those  predicaments  f  We  are  sure  from  Scripture  and 
reason  that  nothing  defiled  shall  enter  heaven.  Rev.  xxi.  27 : 
will  then  our  just  and  merciful  Judge  make  no  distinction  in 
guiltiness,  as  bishop  Fowler  and  other  rigid  Protestants  main- 
tain f  *     Will  he  condemn  to  the  same  eternal  punishment  the 
poor  child  who  has  died  under  the  guilt  of  a  lie  of  excuse,  and 
the  abandoned  wretch  who  has  died  in  the  act  of  murdering  his 
father  ^     To  say  that  he  will,  is  so  monstrous  a  doctrine  in  it- 
self, and  so  contrary  to  Scripture,  which  declares  that  God  will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds,  Rom.  ii.  6,  that  it 
seems  to  be  universally  exploded. f     The  evident  consequence 
of  this  is,  that  there  are  some  venial  or  pardonable  sins,  for  the 
expiation  of  which,  as  well  as  of  the  temporary  punishment  due 
to  other  sins,  a  place  of  temporary  punishment  is  provided  in 
the  next  life,  where,  however,  the  souls  detained  may  be  relieved, 
by  the  prayers,  alms,  and  sacrifices  of  the  faithful  here  on  earth. 
O  !  how  consoling  is  the  belief  and  practice  of  Catholics  in  this 
matter,  compared  with  those  of  Protestants !     The  latter  show 
their  regard  for  their  departed  friends  in  costly  pomp  and  fea- 
thered pageantry ;  while  theii  burial  service  is  a  cold,  discon- 
solate ceremony  ;  and  as  to  any  further  communication  with  the 
deceased,  when  the  grave  closes  on  their  remains,  they  do  not 
so  much  as  imagine  any.     On  the  other  hand,  we  Catholics 
know,  that  death  itself  cannot  dissolve  the  communion  of  saints, 
which  subsists  in  our  church,  nor  prevent  an  intercourse  of 
kind  and  often  beneficial  offices  between  us  and  our  departed 
friends.     Oftentimes  we  can  iielp  them  more  eflcctually,  in  tiie 
other  world,  by  our  prayers,  our  sacrifices,  and  our  alms-deeds, 
than  we  could  in  this  by  any  temporary  benefits  we  could  be- 
stow upon  them.     Hence  we  are  instructed  to  celebrate  the  ob- 
sequies of  the  dead  by  all  such  good  works;  and,  accordingly, 
our  funeral  service  consists  of  psalms  and  prayers,  offered  up 
for  their  repose  and  eternal  felicity.     These  acts  of  devotion, 
pious  Catholics  perform  for  the  deceased,  who  were  near  and 
dear  to  them,  and  indeed  for  the  dead  in  general,  every  day, 
but  particularly  on  the  respective  anniversaries  of  the  deceast^d. 

♦  Calvin,  1.  iii.  c.  12.    Fowler  in  Watson's  Tracts,  vol.  yi.  p.  388. 
t  See  Dr.  H«'y,  vol.  iii.  pp.  384,451,  453.     ,. 
26* 


372 


Letter  XUV, 


Such  benefits,  we  are  assured,  will  be  paid  with  rich  interest, 
by  those  souls  to  whose  bliss  we  have  contributed,  when  they 
attain  to  it ;  and  if  they  should  not  be  in  a  condition  to  help  us, 
the  God  of  mercy  at  least  will  abundantly  reward  our  charity. 
On  the  other  hand,  what  a  comfort  and  support  must  it  be  to 
our  minds,  when  our  turn  comes  to  descend  into  the  grave,  to 
reflect  that  we  shall  continue  to  live  in  the  constant  thoughts 
and  daily  devotions  of  our  Catholic  relatives  and  friends ! 
Mu;  .         lam,  &c. 


'!  J        To  the  Rev.  ROBERT  CLAYTOJi,  M,  A. 


J.  M 


'r. 


LETTER  XLIV. 


: '  >■ 


.t." 


i\ 


EXTREME  UJiCTIOX, 


*  Rev.  Sir, 

"'  The  Council  of  Trent  terms  the  sacrament  of  extreme  mic- 
tion, the  Consummation  of  Penance,  and  therefore,  as  bishop 
Porteus  makes  this  the  subject  of  a  charr'^  «igainst  our  church, 
here  is  the  proper  place  for  me  to  an:  it.  His  lordship 
writes  a  long  chapter  upon  it,  because  hi&  uusiness  is  to  gloss 
over  the  clear  testimony  which  the  apostle  St.  James  bears  to 
the  reality  of  this  sacrament :  in  return,  I  shall  write  a  short  let- 
ter in  refutation  of  his  chapter,  because  I  have  little  more  to  do 
than  to  cite  that  testimony,  as  it  stands  in  the  New  Testament : 
it  is  this :  Is  any  man  sick  among  you,  let  him  bring  in  the  priests 
of  the  church,  and  let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him  with 
oil,  in  the  nam£  of  the  Lord.  And  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save 
the  sick  man ;  and  the  Lord  shall  raise  htm  up,  and  if  he  be  in 
sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him,  James  v.  14,  15.  Here  we  see 
all  that  is  requisite,  according  to  the  English  Protestant  Cate- 
chism,  to  constitute  a  sacrament,*  for  there  "  is  an  outward 
visible  sign,"  namely,  the  anointing  with  oil :  there  "  is  an  in- 
ward spirit'ial  grace,  given  unto  us,"  namely,  the  saving  of  the 
tick  and  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins.    Lastly,  there  is  the  Ordina* 


*  In  the  Bogk  or  Common  Praytr. 


Letter  XLIF. 


273 


ch  interest, 
when  they 
to  help  us, 
ur  charity, 
ist  it  be  to 
5  grave,  to 
tt  thoughts 
nds! 

J.  M 

■■I    'ul 


■  »    ,  - 


) . 


2. 


'■"'') 


rcme  tine- 
as bishop 
ir  church 
s  lordship 
I  to  gloss 
s  bears  to 
i  short  ht- 
lore  to  do 
estament : 
the  priests 
him  vnth 
shall  save 
f  he  be  in 
re  we  see 
ant  Gate- 
I  outward 
'  is  an  in- 
ing  of  the 
e  Ordina* 


tion  of  Clirist,  as  the  fnedns  by  which  the  same  U  received ;^^  un- 
less the  bishop  chooses  to  allege,  that  the  holy  apostle  fabricated 
a  Sacrament,  or  means  of  grace,  without  any  authority  for  tliis 
purpose  from  his  heavenly  Master.  What  then  does  his  lord- 
ship say,  in  opposition  to  this  divine  warrant  for  our  Sacra- 
ment ?  He  says,  that  the  anointing  of  the  sick  by  elders  or  old 
men,  was  the  appointed  method  o(  miraculously  curing  them  in 
primitive  times,  which  would  imply,  that  no  Christian  died  in 
those  times,  except  when  either  oil  or  old  men  were  not  to  be 
met  with !  He  adds,  that  the  forgiveness  of  the  sick  marl's  sins 
means  the  cures  of  his  corporal  diseases!*  And  after  all  this, 
he  boasts  of  buildmg  his  religion  on  mere  Scripture,  in  its  plain, 
unglossed  meaning  !t  In  reading  all  this,  I  own  I  cannot  help 
revolving  in  my  mind  the  above  quoted  profane  parody  of  Lu- 
ther, on  the  first  words  of  Scripture,  in  which  he  ridicules  the 
distortion  of  it  by  many  Protestants  of  his  time4  With  the 
same  confidence  his  lordship  adds :  "  Our  laving  aside  a  cere- 
mony (the  anointing)  which  has  long  been  useless,  &,c.  can  be  no 
loss,  while  every  thing  that  is  truly  valuable  in  St.  James's  di- 
rection is  preserved  in  our  office  for  visiting  the  sick."§  Ex- 
actly in  this  manner  our  friends,  the  Quakers,  undertake  to 
prove,  that,  in  laying  aside  the  ceremony  of  washing  catechu- 
mens with  water,  they  "  have  preserved  every  thing  that  is 
trulv  valuable"  in  the  sacrament  of  Baptism! ||  But  where 
shall  we  find  an  end  of  the  inconsistencies  and  impieties  of  de- 
luded Christians,  who  refuse  to  hear  that  church  which  Christ 
has  appointed  to  explain  to  them  the  truths  of  religion  ? 

There  is  not  more  truth  in  the  prelate's  assertion,  that  there 
is  no  mention  of  anoiniing  with  oil,  among  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, except  in  miraculous  cures,  during  the  nrst  600  years : 
for  the  celebrated  Oiigen,  who  was  born  in  the  age  next  to  that 
of  the  apostles,  after  speaking  of  an  humble  confession  of  sins, 
as  a  mean  of  obtaining  their  pardon,  adds  to  it,  the  anointing 
with  oil,  prescribed  by  St.  Jamcs.%  St.  Chrysostom,  who  lived 
in  the  fourth  century,  speaking  of  the  power  of  priests  in  remit- 
ting sin,  says,  they  exert  it  when  they  are  called  in  to  perform 
the  rite  mentioned  by  St.  James,  &c.**  The  testimony  of  Pope 
Innocent  I.  in  the  same  age,  is  so  express  as  to  the  warrant  for 
this  sacrament,  the  matter,  the  minister,  and  the  subjects  of 

♦  P.  59.  T  P-  69. 

t  *'  In  principio  Deus  crcavit  caelum  et  terrain :  In  the  beginning  0i9 
cuckoo  devoured  the  sparrow  and  it$  feather  a. 
t  P.  61.  n  Barclay's  Apology,  Prop.  12. 

ir  Horn.  ii.  in  Levit.  **  De  Sacerd.  I.  iii. 

3  M 


374 


Letter  XLIV. 


it;*  that  thongli  the  bishop  alluded  to  the  testimony,  he  does 
not  choose  to  grapple  with  it,  or  even  to  quote  it.f    I  pass  over 
the  irrefragable  authorities  of  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  Victor  of 
Antioch,  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  and  our  Venerable  Bede,  in 
order  once  more  to  recur  to  that  short  but  convincing  proof, 
that  the  Catholic  church  has  not  invented  those  sacraments  and 
doctrines  in  latter  ages,  which  Protestants  assert  were  unknown 
in  the  primitive  ages.     The  Nestorians  then  broke  off  from  the 
communion  of  the  church  in  431,  and  the  Eutychians  in  451  : 
these  rival  sects  exist,  in  numerous  congregations,  throughout 
the  east,  at  the  present  day,  and  they  both,  as  well  as  the 
Greeks,  Armenians,  &z^c.  maintain,  in  belief  and  praciicef  Extreme 
Unction  as  one  of  the  seven  sacraments.     Nothing  can  so  satis- 
factorily vindicate  our  church  from  the  charge  of  imposition  or 
innovation,  in  the   particulars   mentioned,  as  these  facts  do. 
How  much  more  consistently  has  the  impious  Friar,  Martin  Lu- 
ther,  acted  in  denying  at  once  the  authority  of  St.  James's 
Epistle,  and  condemning  it  as  "  a  chaffy  composition,  and  un- 
worthy an  apostle,"J  than  Bp.  Porteus,  with  his  confederates 
do,  who  attempt  to  explain  away  the  clear  proofs  of  extreme 
nction,  contained  in  it  ?     In  the  mean  time,  in  spite  of  them 
all,  pious  Catholics  will  continue  to  renp  inestimable  consola- 
tion and  grace,  in  the  time  of  man's  greatest  need,  for  the  sake 
r'^  which  this  and  the  other  helps  of  their  church,  were  provided 
by  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

I  am,  &ic. 

J.  M. 


Epist.  ad  Decent.  Eaj^b.  t  P.  6t. 

**  iStramminosa."    Prefet.  in  Ep.  Jac.  Jens  de  Captiv.  Babyl. 


C    275     1 


iutni  lufK  ,i'/.j4fil.kiU  fiUMkHinhH  Amnam  »>/lii  r(J     Jt  hMlnuif 
i|uU  '!ih  U;i!>  «l><><iiieii«;(fl   jUiiltiiu^  ,wiiiwn)jrij  i>V»tltM»l  lo-^i^^jf*^ 

I  >.i  «i-t//  Miit  hun ,«    LETTER  XLV. '''•>*«  jrh&nmki^ 

{«^>  » '  'To  fAe  iJev.  ROBERT  CLAYTOK,  M.  A   »  '>^« » 

M}  ;(( ,iiii      WHETHER  THE  POPE  BE  ^J^TICHRIST.Uu\  ]  -am 

Rtev.  Sir, 
There  remains  but  one  more  question  of  doctrine  to  be  dit* 
cussed  between  me  and  your  favourite  controvertist,  bishop 
Porteus,  which  is  concerning  the  character  and  power  of  tlie 
Pope ;  and  this  he  compresses  into  a  narrow  compass,  among  a 
variety  of  miscellaneous  matters,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  book' 
However,  as  it  is  a  doctrine  of  first-rate  importance,  against 
which  I  make  no  doubt  but  several  of  your  Salopian  Society 
have  been  early  and  bitterly  prejudiced,  I  propose  to  treat  it,  at 
some  length,  and  in  a  regular  way.  To  do  this,  I  must  begin 
with  the  inquiry,  whether  the  Pope  be  really  and  truly,  the  man 
ofsiUf  and  the  son  ofperdition,  described  by  St.  Paul,  2  Thesi, 
ii.  1,  10 ;  in  short,  the  Antichrist  spoken  of  by  St.  John,  1  John 
ii.  18,  and  called  by  him,  A  beast  with  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns,  Revel,  xiii.  1,  whose  See  or  church  is  the  great  harlot, 
the  niother  of  the  fornications  and  abominations  of  the  earth.  Ibid, 
xvii.  5.  I  shudder  to  repeat  these  blasphemies,  and  I  blush  to 
hear  them  uttered  by  my  fellow  Christians  and  countrymen, 
who  derive  their  liturgy,  their  ministry,  their  Christianity,  and 
civilization,  from  the  Pope  and  the  church  of  Rome ;  but  they 
have  been  too  generally  taught  by  the  learned,  and  believed  by 
the  ignorant,  for  me  to  pass  them  by  in  silence  on  this  occasion. 
One  of  bishop  Porteus's  colleagues,  bishop  Hallifax,  speaks  of 
this  doctrine  concerning  the  Pope  and  Rome,  as  long  being 
"  the  common  symbol  of  Protestantism."*  Certain  it  is,  (hat 
the  author  of  it,  the  outrageous  Martin  Luther,  may  be  said  to 
have  established  Protestantism  upon  this  principle :  he  had  at 
first  submitted  his  religious  controversies  to  the  decision  of  (he 
Pope,  protesting  to  him  thus :  *'  Wlielher  you  give  life  or 
death,  approve  or  reprove,  as  you  may  judge  best,  I  will 
hearken  to  your  voice,  as  to  that  of  Christ  himself  :"f  bu(  no 
sooner  did  Pope  Leo  condemn  his  doctrine,  than  he  published 

*  Sermons  by  bishop  Hallifax,  preached  at  the  Lecture  founded  by  the  late  b^ 

ihop  Warburton,  to  prove  the  apostasy  of  Papal  Rome,  p.  27.       .  .,  . 

t  EpUt  od  Leon  X.  A.  D.  1518.  >,    (u.  .  j^ 


270 


Letter  XLF. 


his  book  "  Against  the  execrable  Bull  of  Antichrist,"*  as  he 
qualified  it.     In  like  manner,  Melancthon,  Bullinger,  and  many 
others  of  Luther's  followers,  publicly  maintained,  that  the  Pope 
is  Antichrist,  as  did  afterwards  Calvin,  Beza,  and  the  writers  of 
that  party  in  general.     This  party  considered  this  doctrine  so 
essential,  as  to  vote  it  an  article  of  faiths  in  their  synod  of  Gap, 
held  in  1603.f     The  writers  in  defence  of  this  impious  tenet  in 
our  island,  are  as  numerous  as  those  of  the  whole  continent  put 
together,  John  Fox,  Whitaker,  Fuike,  Wiliet,  sir  Isaac  Newton, 
Mede,  Lowman,  Towson,  Bicheno,  Kett,  Uc.  with  the  bishops. 
Fowler,  Warburton,  Newton,   Hallifax,    Hurd,  Watson,   and 
others,  too  numerous  to  be  here  mentioned.     One  of  these  wri- 
ters, whose  work  has  but  just  appeared,  has  collected  a  new  and 
quite  whimsical  system  from  the  Scriptures  concerning  Anti- 
christ.    Hitherto,  Protestant  expositors  have  been  content  to 
apply  the  character  and  attributes  of  Antichrist  to  a  succession 
of  Roman  pOntifl's ;  but  the  Rev.  H.  Kett  professes  to  have  dis- 
covered, that  the  said  Antichrist  is,  at  the  same  time,  every 
Pope  who  has  filled  the  See  of  Rome^inpe  the  year  766,  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  and  si^fy^,'^  togllFher  with  the  whole  of 
what  he  calls  "  the  Mahometan  power,"  from  a  period  more 
remote  by  a  century  and  a  half,  and  the  whole  of  infidelity, 
which  he  traces  to  a  still  more  ancient  origin  than  even  Mo- 
hometanism.;]; 

"*  That  the  first  Pope,  St.  Peter,  on  whom  Christ  declared, 
that  he  built  his  church.  Mat,  xvi.  18,  was  not  Antichrist,  I  trust 
I  need  not  prove,  nor,  indeed,  his  third  successor  in  the  Pope- 
dom, St.  Clement,  since  St.  Paul  testifies  of  him  that  his  name 
is  written  in  the  book  of  life,  Phil.  iv.  3.  In  like  manner,  there 
is  no  need  of  my  demonstrating,  that  the  See  of  Rome  was  not 
the  harlot  of  Revelations,  when  St.  Paul  certified  of  its  mem- 
ders,  that  i\\e\Y  faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world , 
Rom.  i.  8.  At  what  particular  period,  then,  I  now  ask,  as  I 
abked  Mr.  Brown,  in  one  of  my  former  letters,  did  the  grand 
apostasy  take  place,  by  which  the  head  pastor  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  became  his  declared  enemy,  in  short,  the  Antichrist,  and 
by  which  the  church,  whose  faith  had  been  divinely  authenti- 
cated, became  the  great  harlot,  full  of  the  names  of  blasphemy 'i 
This  revolution,  had  it  really  taken  place,  would  have  been  the 

*Tom.n.     '  '  t  Bossuct'8  Variat.  P.  ii.  B.  18.  "      '■■•■' 

J  H'lHtory  of  the  Interpreter  of  Propliecy,  by  H.  Kett,  B.  D.  This  writer's  at- 
tempt to  transform  the  p:reat  supporters  of  the  Pope,  St.  Jerom,  Pope  Gregory  I, 
8t  Bernard,  &c.  into  witneMses  that  tlic  Pope  is  Antichrist,  because  they  con* 
denin  certain  acts  as  Anticiiristian,  is  truly  ridiculous. 


rist,"*  as  he 
er,  and  many 
that  the  Pope 
the  writers  of 
s  doctrine  so 
^nod  of  Gap, 
)ious  tenet  in 
continent  put 
•aac  Newton, 
the  bishops, 
Vatson,    and 
of  these  wri- 
3d  a  new  and 
^rning  Anti- 
n  content  to 
a  succession 
to  have  dis- 
time,  every 
r  766,  to  the 
he  whole  of 
jeriod  more 
[)f  infidelity, 
an  even  Mo- 

st  declared, 
ihrist,  I  trust 
n  the  Pope- 
lat  Aw  name 
[inner,  there 
•me  was  not 
af  its  mem- 
yhole  world, 
iw  ask,  as  I 
1  the  grand 
e  church  of 
ichrist,  and 
y  authenti- 
dasphemy  ? 
^e  been  the 


lis  writer's  at- 
pe  Gregory  I, 
ise  they  con* 


Letter  XLV, 


277 


greatest  and  the  most  remarkable  that  ever  happened  since  tlie 
deluge :  hence,  we  might  expect,  that  the  witnesses,  who  profess 
to  bear  testimony  to  its  reality,  would  agree,  as  to  the  time  of 
its  taking  place.  Let  us  now  observe  how  far  this  is  the  fact. 
The  Lutheran  Braunbom,  who  writes  the  most  copiously,  and 
the  most  confidently  of  this  event,  tells  us,  that  the  Popish  An- 
tichrist was  born  in  the  year  of  Christ  86,  that  he  grew  to  his 
full  size  in  376,  that  he  was  at  his  greatest  strength  in  636,  that 
he  began  to  decline  in  1086,  that  he  would  die  in  1640,  and 
that  the  world  would  end  in  1711.*  Sebastian  Francus  af- 
firms, that  Antichrist  appeared  immediately  after  the  apostles, 
and  caused  the  external  church,  with  its  faith  and  sacraments, 
to  dlsappear.f  The  Protestant  church  of  Transylvania  pub 
Ushed  that  Antichrist  first  appeared  A.  D.  200. J  Napper  de 
clared  that  his  coming  was  about  31^^  and  that  Pope  Silvester 
was  the  man.<§  ^elnncthon  says,  thvb  t*ope  Zozimus,  in  420, 
was  the  first  Antichrist, ||  while  Beza  transfers  this  character  to 
the  great  and  good  St.  Leo,  A.  D.  440.ir  Fleming  fixes  on 
the  year  606  as  the  year  of  this  great  event,  Bp.  Newton  on 
the  year  727  ;  but  all  agree,  says  the  Rev.  HenifV  Kett,  **  that 
the  Antichristian  power  was  fully  established  inj||M,  Or  768.*'** 
Notwithstanding  this  confident  assertion,  Cranmers  brother-in- 
law,  Bullinger,  had,  long  before,  assigned  the  year  763  as  the 
era  of  this  grand  revolution,f  f  and  Junius  had  put  it  ofi"  to 
1 073.  Musculus  could  not  discover  Antichrist  in  the  church 
till  about  1200,  Fox  not  till  1300,I|  and  Martin  Luther,  as  we 
have  seen,  not  till  his  doctrine  was  condemned  by  Pope  Leo  in 
1 620.  Such  are  the  inconsistencies  and  contradictions  of  those 
learned  Protestants,  who  profess  to  see  so  clearlj  hs  verifica^ 
tion  of  the  prophecies  concerning  Antichrist  in  the  R(  .man  pon- 
tifls.  I  say  contradictions,  because  those  among  them  who  pro- 
ntypce  Pope  Gregory,  or  Leo  the  Great,  or  Pope  SilveAtdr,  to 
have  been  Antichrist,  must  contradict  those  others,  who  tAxtAt 
them  to  have  been  respectively  Christian  pastors  and  saints 
Now  what  credit  do  men  of  sense  give  to  an  account  of  any 
sort,  the  vouchers  for  which  contradict  each  other  f  Certainly 
none  at  all. 

Nor  are  the  predictions  of  these  egregious  interpreters,  con- 
cerning the  death  of  Antichrist,  and  the  destruction  of  Popery, 
more  consistent  with  one  another,  than  their  accounts  of  the 


♦  Bayle's  Diet.  Braunbom. 

i  De  Abolend.  Christ,  per  Antichris. 

N  In  locis  po8tremo  edit 

**  Vol.  ii.  p.  68.  n  In  Apoc 


De  Alvegand.  Stat.  Eccles. 
^  Upon  the  Revel. 
U  In  Confess  General. 
U  laEandem. 


378 


Letter  XLVi 


birth  and  progress  of  them  both.     We  have  seen  above,  tliat 
Braunbom  prognosticated  that  the  death  of  tlie  papal  Anil- 
Christ  would  take  place  in  the  year  1640.     John  Fox  foretold 
it  would  happen  in  1666.     The  incomparable  Joseph  Mede,  as 
iMshop  Hallifax  calls  him,^  by  a  particular  calculation  of  his 
own  invention,  undertook  to  demonstrate  that  the  Papacy  would 
be  finally  desti'oyed  in  1653.f   The  Calvinist  minister  Jurieau, 
who  had  adopted  this  system,  fearing  that  the  event  would  not 
verify  it,  found  a  pretext  to  lengthen  the  term,  first  to  1690, 
and  afterwards  to  1710.     But  he  lived  to  witness  a  disappoint- 
ment  at   each    of  these   periods.^     Alix,  another  Huguenot 
preacher,  predicted  that  the  fatal  catastrophe  would  certainly 
take  place  in  17164     Whiston,  who  pretended  to  find  out  the 
longitude,  pretended  also  to  discover  that  the  Popedom  would 
terminate  in  1714:  findi'^^  himself  mistaken,  he  guessed  a  se- 
cond time,  and  fixed  on^Jfiyear  1735.|l     At  length,  Mr.  Kett, 
from  the  success  of  his  Aw»khrist  of  Infidelity  against  his  Anti- 
christ  of  Popery,  about  twenty  years  ago,  (for  he  feels  no  diffi- 
culty in  dividing  Satan  against  himself,  Mat.  xii.  6,)  foretold 
that  the  long  wished  for  event  was  at  the  eve  of  being  accom- 
plished,ir  and  jyir*  Daubeny  having,  with  several  other  preach- 
ers, witnessed  Pope  Piu^  VI.  in  chains,  and  Rome  possessed  by 
French  Atheists,  sounds  the  trumpet  of  victory,  and  exclaims, 
all  is  accomplished.**     Empty  triumph  of  the  enemies  of  the 
church!     They  ought  to  have  learned,  from  her  lengthened 
history,  that  she  never  proves  the  truth  of  Christ's  promises  so 
evidently  as  when  she  seems  sinking  under  the  waves  of  perse- 
cution ;  and  that  the  chair  of  Peter  never  shines  so  gloriously, 
as  when  it  is  filled  by  a  dying  martyr,  like  Pius  VI,  or  a  cap- 
tive confessor,  like  Pius  VII ;  however  triumphant  for  a  time, 
their  perjsecutors  may  appear !      .^.i   .,    ,,..1.         ^  .,  -  ? 

But  those  dealers  in  prophecy  undertake  to  demonstrate  from 
the  characters  of  Antichrist,  as  pointed  out  by  St.  Paul  and  St. 
John,  that  this  succr  ssion  of  Popes  is  the  very  man  in  question  : 
accordmglv  the  bishop  of  Landafi*  says ;  "  I  have  known  the 
infidelity  of  more  than  one  young  man  happily  removed,  by 
showing  him  the  characters  of  Popery  delineated  by  St.  Paul, 
in  his  prophecy  concerning  The  Man  of  Sin,  2  Thess.  ii.  and 


)>'  I 


'ii.nn  • 


;■(:;• 


i  (fi    ,    ^1! 


'1  -MtJ  vu:-', 


'  P;286.                  t  Bayle's  Diet   •     '    -      t  Ibid.  ^  Ibid, 

tl  Esasy  on  Revel.                                          IF  Vol.  ii.  cliaj).  1. 
**  Th«  fall  of  Papal  Rome.     In  like  manner  G.  S.  Faber,  in  his  two  Sermons 
before  the  University  of  Oxford,  in  1799,  boasts  that  "  the  immense  Gothic  struc- 
ture of  Popery,  built  on  superstition  uad  buttressed  with  tortures,  has  crumbled 
to  dust."  ,    ,       .  ,  ' 


Lei^&r  XLV, 


279 


above,  tliat 
papal  Ami. 
Fox  foretold 
ph  Mede,  as 
lation  of  bis 
ipacy  would 
ster  Jurieau, 
It  would  not 
rst  to  1690, 
disappoint- 
Huguenot 
d  certainly 
find  out  the 
edom  would 
lessed  a  se- 
1,  Mr.  Kett, 
1st  his  Anti- 
2els  no  diffi- 
6,)  foretold 
eing  accom- 
Her  preach- 
lossessed  by 
id  exclaims, 
smies  of  the 
lengthened 
promises  so 
2S  of  perse- 
gloriously, 
,  or  a  cap- 
for  a  time, 

strate  from 
aul  and  St. 
1  question : 
known  the 
moved,  by 
f  St.  Paul, 
ess.  ii.  and 


)  Ibid. 

two  Sermons 
Gothic  atruc< 
lu  crumbled 


in  that  concerning  the  apostasy  of  the  latter  times,  1  Tim,  Ww 
\***    In  proof  of  this  point,  he  republishes  the  Dissenter,  Ben- 
son's Dissertation  on  The  man  of  iSm;f  I  purpose,  therefore, 
making  a  few  remarks  on  the  leading  points  of  this  adoptive 
child  of  his  lordship,  as  also  upon  some  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kett't 
illustrations  of  them.    First,  then,  we  all  know  that  the  Aevelor- 
tion  of  the  Man  of  Sin  will  be  accompanied  with  a  revolt  or 
falling  of)*,  in  other  words,  with  a  great  apostasy;  but  it  is  a 
question  to  be  discussed  between  me  and  bishop  Watson,  whe- 
ther this  character  of  apostasy  is  more  applicable  to  the  Ca  ; 
tholic  church,  or  to  that  class  of  Religionists  who  adopt  his 
opinions  f     To  decide  this  point,  let  me  ask,  what  are  the  first 
and  principal  articles  of  the  three  creeds  p>rofessed  by  his  church 
as  well  as  by  ours,  that  of  the  apostles,  that  of  Nice,  and  that 
of  St.  Athanasius,  as  likewise  of  his  articles,  his  liturgy,  and 
his  canons  f     Incontestably  those  which  profess  a  belief  in  the 
blessed  Trinity,  and  the  incarnation  of  the  consubstantial  Son 
of  the  eternal  Father.     Now  it  is  notorious,  that  every  Catholic 
throughout  the  world,  holds  these  the  fundamental  articles  of 
Christianity  as  firmly  now  as  St.  Athanasius  himself  did  fifteen 
hundred  years  ago :  but  what  says  his  lordship,  with  number- 
less other  Protestant  Christians  of  this  country,  on  these  heads  f 
Tiet  the  preface  to  his  Collection  be  consulted,;]:  in  which,  if  he 
does  not  openly  deny  the  Trinity,  he  excuses  the  Unitarians, 
who  deny  it,  on  the  ground  that  they  are  afraid  of  becoming 
idolaters  by  worshipping  Jesus  CAnV.'.<^     Let  his  charges  be  ex- 
amined :  in  one  of  which  he  says  to  his  clergy,  that  '*  he  does 
not  think  it  safe  to  tell  them  what  the  Christian  doctrines  are  ;"|| 
no,  not  so  much  as  the  unity  and  trinity  of  God.     In  another 
charge,  however,  the  bishop  assumes  more  courage,  and  in-^ 
forms  his  clergy,  that  *'  I-'rotestantism   consists   in    believing 
what  each  one  pleases,  and  in  professing  what  he  believes.** 
How  much  should  I  rejoice  to  have  this  question  of  apostasy^ 
between  the  bishop  of  Landaft*  and  me,  decidea  by  Luther, 
Calvin,  Beza,  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  James  I,  only  for  the 
proofs  which  history  afibrds  me,  that,  not  content  with  exclud- 
ing him  from  the  class  of  Christians,  they  would   assuredly 
bum  him  at  the  stake  as  an  apostate.     The  second  character  of 
Antichrist,  set  down  by  St.  Paul,  is,  that  he  opposeth  and  u 
lifted  up  above  all  that  is  called  Godj  or  that  is  worshippedy  sa 


*  Bp.  Watson's  CoUcci  p.  7. 

t  Vol.  i.  Pref.p.  15,&c. 

I  Bishop  Watson's  Charstv  1795t 


t  Ibid.  p.  268. 
i  P.  17. 


■  ;  .mhJ 


380 


Letter  XLF, 


that  he  ntteth  in  the  Temple  of  God^  shomng  himself  as  if  he 
were  God,  2  Thess.  H.  4.     This  character  Mr.  Benson  tnd  bi- 
shop Watson  think  applicable  to  the  Pope,  who,  they   say, 
claims  the  attributes  and  homage  due  to  the  Deity.    I  leave 
you,  Rev.  sir,  and  your  friends,  to  judge  of  the  truth  of  this 
character,  when  I  inform  you,  that  the  Pope  has  his  confessor, 
like  other  Catholics,  to  whom  he  confesses  his  sins  in  private ; 
and  that  every  day,  in  saying  mass,  he  bows  before  the  altar, 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  people  confesses,  that  he  has  "  sinned 
in  thought,  word,  and  deed,"  begging  them  to  pray  to  God  for 
liim,  and  that  afterwards,  in  the  more  solemn  part  of  it^  he  pro- 
fesses "  his  hopes  of  forgiveness,  not  through  his  own  merits, 
but  through  the  bounty  and  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."* 
The  third  mark  of  Antichrist  is,  that  his  coming  is  according  to 
the  working  of  Satanf  in  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wou' 
ders,  2  Thess.  ii.  9.     From  this  passage  of  Holy  Writ,  it  ap- 
pears that  Antichrist,  whenever  he  does  come,  will  work  false, 
illusive  prodigies,  as  the  magicians  of  Pharaoh  did ;  but,  from 
the  divine  promises,  it  is  evident  that  the  disciples  of  Christ 
would  continue  to  work  true  miracles,  such   as   he  himself 
wrought ;  and  from  the  testimony  of  the  holy  fathers  and  all 
ecclesiastical  writers,  it  is  incontestible,  that  certain  servants  of 
God  have  been  enabled  to  work  them,  from  time  to  time,  ever 
since  this  his  promise.     This  I  have  elsewhere  demonstruted, 
as  likewise,  that  the  fact  is  denied  by  Protestants,  not  for  want 
of  evidence,  as  to  its  truth,  but  because  this  is  necessary  for  the 
defence  of  their  system. f     Still  it  is  false  that  the  Catholic 
church  ever  claimed  a  power  of  working  miracles  in  the  order  of 
nature,  as  her  opponents  pretend  :  all  that  we  say  is,  that  God  is 
pleased,  from  time  to  time,  to  illustrate  the  true  church  with  real 
miracles,  and  thereby  to  show,  that  she  belongs  to  him.     The 
latest  dealer  in  prophecies,  who  boasts  that  his  books  have  been 
revised  by  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  J  by  way  of  showing  the  con- 
formity between  Antichristian  Popery  and  the  beast,  that  did 
great  signs,  so  that  he  made  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven  unto 
the  earth,  in  the  sight  of  men.  Rev.  xiii.  13,  says  of  the  former, 
**  even  fire  is  pretended  to  come  down  from  heaven,  as  in  the 
case  of  iS^.  Anthony's  fire"^     I  am  almost  ashamed  to  refute 
80  illiterate  a  caviU    True  it  is,  that  the  hospital  monks  of  St. 
Anthony  were  heretofore  famous  for  curing  the  Erysipelas  with 
a  peculiar  ointment,  on  which  account  that  disease  acquired  the 


*  Canon  of  the  Mass.  t  Part  ii.  Letter.  xziiL 

t  Inrerpref .  of  Prophecy,  by  H.  Kelt,  LL.  B.    Pref. 

4  Kett,  ToLii.  22.  •  ' 


t    4 


1     i- 


tetter  XLV. 


281 


ej/*  as  if  he 
ion  ind  bi- 
they  say, 
.    I  leave 
uth  of  this 
confesgor, 
in  private ; 
the  altar, 
eis  "  sinned 
to  God  for 
it^  he  pro- 
wn  merits, 
ir  Lord."* 
^cording  to 
lying  woti' 
Vrit,  it  ap- 
vork  false, 
but,  from 
of  Christ 
le  himself 
;rs  and  all 
servants  of 
time,  ever 
lonstruted, 
)t  for  want 
iry  for  the 
e  Catholic 
he  order  of 
hat  God  is 
\i  with  real 
lim.    The 
have  been 
5  the  con- 
tf  that  did 
aven  unto 
le  former, 
as  in  the 
to  refute 
nks  of  St. 
}ela8  with 
|uired  the 


name  of  St,  Anthony's  fire  ;*  but  neither  these  monks,  nor  any 
other  Catholics,  were  used  to  invoke  that  inflammation,  or  any 
other  burning  whatsoever,  from  heaven  or  elsewhere.  1  beg 
that  you  and  your  friends  will  suspend  your  opinion  of  the 
fourth  alleged  resemblance  between  Antichrist  and  the  Pope, 
that  of  persecuting  the  saints,  till  I  have  leisure  to  treat  that 
subject  in  greater  detail  tiian  I  can  at  present.  I  shall  take  no 
notice  at  all  of  this  writer's  chronological  calculations,  nor  of  the 
anagrams  and  chronograms  by  which  many  Protestant  ex- 
pounders have  endeavoured  to  extract  the  mysterious  number 
six  hundred  and  sixty-six  from  the  name  or  title  of  certain 
Popes,  farther  than  to  observe,  that  ingenious  Catholics  have 
extracted  the  same  number  from  the  name  Martinus  I/utheruSj 
and  even  from  that  of  David  Chrytheus,  who  was  the  most  cele- 
brated inventor  of  those  riddles. 

Such,  are  the  grounds  on  which  certain  refractory  children, 
in  modern  ages,  have  ventured  to  call  their  true  mother  a  pros- 
titutej  and  the  conimon  father  of  Christians,  the  author  of  their 
own  conversion  from  Paganism,  The  Man  of  Sin,  and  the  very 
Antichrist,  But  they  do  not  really  believe  what  they  declare; 
their  object  being  only  to  inflame  the  ignol-ant  multitude.  I 
have  suflicient  reason  to  think  this,  when  I  hear  a  Luther 
threatening  to  unsay  all  that  he  had  said  against  the  Pope,  a 
Melancthon  lamenting,  that  Protestants  had  renounced  him,  a 
Beza  negotiating  to  return  to  him,  and  a  late  Warburton-lectur- 
er  lamenting,  on  his  deathbed,  that  he  could  not  do  the  same. 

I  am,  &c. 

J.  M. 


t;i,  ' 


»'.  .  !F  i 


Ivj 


!\U 


*  Paqaotius,  In  Molr     mDe  Sacr.  Imag. 

N 


i,'-.,,-:;",..,  .-■.    ■■'■        ■         .     ■ 
.■■'{li'.t.'i-  \    i  '•'     'mMJ   ,  <      'ti... 


-I       t 


1   •■ 


I      w 


"t  -     <     ••   -   ;  .  '•  (* 
■  '  .'■      .  ■      II   ■  ;>  M  /! 

...  •lil.>V.» 


I3S 


[    282    ] 


'(nc  iOti  ./i\;',i'Vi:  ■*   ill)   iM.'l!,  i  ltd    ^:     v 
Vim  1/1    JHiUr.Ulii.rMui    •,•;((/  •■  ;.j7jit'   (u    [."ii    ■ 

ir       LETTER  XLVI. 


,  / 


■ii 


ill  .  ->   !j  .-.noit ,  <W  TH£  POPE'S  SUPREMACY, 


oiit.   ill'-, 


To  tU  Rev,  ROBERT  CL^^TOJ^,  M.  A 


-<■'«   .f.l 


;;;li;     «i  'i;;  i'/ 


:f)u  < .  n 


Riv.  Sir, 

This  acknowledges  the  honour  of  three  different  letters  from 
you,  which  I  have  not,  till  now,  been  able  to  notice.  The  ob^ 
jections,  contained  in  the  two  former,  are  either  answered,  or  will, 
with  the  help  of  God,  be  answered  by  me.  The  chief  purport 
of  your  last,  is  to  assure  me,  that  the  absurd  and  impious  tenet^ 
of  the  Pope  being  Antichrist,  never  was  a  part  of  your  faith^ 
nor  even  your  opinion ;  but  that  having  read  over  Dr.  Barrow's 
Treatise  of  the  Pope's  Supremacy^  as  well  as  what  bishop  Por- 
teus  has  published  upon  it,  you  cannot  but  be  of  archbishop 
Tillotson's  mind,  who  published  the  above  named  treatise, 
namely,  that  "  The  Pope's  Supremacy  is  not  only  an  indefensi- 
ble, but  also  an  impudent  cause ;  that  there  is  not  one  tolerable 
argument  for  it,  and  that  there  are  a  thousand  invincible  rea-> 
sons  against  it."*  Your  liberality.  Rev.  sir,  on  the  formei 
point,  justifies  the  idea  I  had  formed  of  you  :  with  respect  to 
the  second,  whether  the  Pope's  claim  of  Supremacy,  or  Tillot- 
son's assertion  concerning  it,  is  impudent^  I  shall  leave  you  to 
determine,  when  you  shall  have  perused  the  present  letter.  But, 
as  this,  like  other  subjects  of  our  controversy,  has  been  enve- 
loped in  a  cloud  of  misrepresentation,  I  must  begin  with  dissi- 
pating this  cloud,  and  with  clearly  stating  what  the/aith  of  the 
Catholic  church  is  concerning  the  matter  in  question. 

It  is  not,  then,  the  faith  of  this  clinrch,  that  the  Pope  has  any 
civil  or  temporal  supremacy,  by  virtue  of  which  he  can  depose 
princes,  or  give  or  take  away  the  property  of  other  persons, 
out  of  his  own  domain  :  for  even  the  incarnate  Son  of  God, 
from  whom  he  derives  the  supremacy,  which  he  possesses,  did 
not  claim,  here  upon  earth,  any  riglit  of  the  above-mentioned 
Kind  :  on  the  contrary,  he  positively  declared,  that  his  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world  !  Hence,  the  Catholics  of  both  our  Islands, 
have,  without  impeachment  even  from  Rome,  denied,  upon 
oath,  that  "  the  Pope  has  any  civil  jurisdiction,  power,  superi- 

*  TillotK>D*s  Preface  to  Barrow*a  TraatiiA. 


UtUr  XLVL 


283 


«0  'Jmvu; 


etters  from 
Theob- 

ed,  or  will, 

ef  purport 
)ious  tenet, 
yoxxr  faith, 
*.  Barrow's 
ishop  Por- 
archbjshop 
d  treatise^ 
I  indefensi- 
e  tolerable 
ncible  rea- 
he  formei 

respect  to 
,  or  Tillot- 
»ve  you  to 
tter.  But, 
leen  euve- 
witli  diss!- 
uth  of  the 

•e  has  any 
an  depose 
•  persons, 
I  of  God, 
esses,  did 
nentioned 
1  kingdom 
r  Islands, 
:d,  upon 
r,  superi- 


ority, or  pre-eminence,  directly  or  indirectly,  within  this 
realm."*  But,  as  it  is  undeniable,  that  different  Popes,  in 
former  ages,  have  pronounced  sentence  of  deposition  against 
certain  contemporary  princes,  and,  as  great  numbers  of  theolo- 
gians have  held  (though  not  as  a  matter  of  faith)  that  they  had 
a  right  to  do  so,  it  seems  proper,  by  way  of  mitigating  the  odi- 
um which  Dr.  Porteus  and  other  Protestants  raise  against  them, 
on  this  head,  to  state  the  grounds,  on  which  the  pontiffs  acted 
and  the  divines  reasoned  in  this  business.  Heretofore,  the 
kingdoms,  principalities,  and  states,  composing  the  Latin 
church,  when  they  were  all  of  the  same  religion,  formed,  as  it 
were,  one  Christian  republic,  of  which  the  Pope  was  the  ac- 
credited head.  Now,  as  mankind  have  been  sensible  at  all 
times,  that  the  duty  of  civil  allegiance  and  submission  cannot 
extend  beyond  a  certain  point,  and  that  they  ought  not  to  sur- 
render their  property,  lives  and  morality,  to  be  sported  with  by 
a  Nero  or  a  Heliogabalus  ;  instead  of  deciding  the  nice  point 
for  themselves,  when  resistuuce  becomes  lawful,  they  thought  it 
right  to  be  guided  by  their  chief  pastor.  The  kings  and  prin- 
ces themselves  acknowledged  this  right  in  the  Pope,  and  fre- 
quently applied  to  him  to  make  use  of  his  indirect,  temporal 
power,  as  appears  in  numberless  instances. f  In  latter  ages, 
however,  since  Christendom  has  been  disturbed  by  a  variety  of 
religions,  this  power  of  the  pontifl'  has  been  generally  with- 
drawn :  princes  make  war  upon  each  other,  at  their  pleasure, 
and  subjects  rebel  against  their  princes,  as  their  passions  dic- 
tate,! ^^  ^^^  great  detriment  of  both  parties,  as  may  be  gather- 

*  31.  Geo.  III.  c.  32. 

t_  See  in  Mat.  Paris,  A.  D.  1196,  the  appeal  of  our  king  Richard  I,  to  Pope  Ce- 
lestin  III,  against  the  dulte  of  Austria  for  liuving  detained  him  prisoner  nt  Trivallis, 
and  the  Pope's  sentence  of  excommunication  against  that  duke  for  refusing  to  do 
him  justice. 

X  In  every  country,  in  which  Protestantism  was  preached,  sedition  and  rchellion, 
tvith  the  total  or  partial  deposition  of  the  lawful  sovereign,  ensued,  not  witliout  the 
active  concurrence  of  tlie  preachers  tliemselves.  Lutlier  formed  a  icngue  of  prin- 
ces and  states  in  Germany  against  tlic  emperor,  wliich  desolated  tlie  empire  for 
more  than  a  century,  llis  disciples,  Muncer  and  Stor*'^  taking  advantage  of  tlie 
pretended  nan^elical  Uhcrhi,  which  he  taught,  at  tlie  head  of  40,000  AiiabaptistM 
claimed  the  empire  and  possession  of  the  world,  in  (juulity  of  tlu:  vieek  men,  und 
enforced  their  demand  with  ftre  and  sword,  dispossessing  princes  und  lawful  owii> 
ers,  Sic.  Zuinglius  lighted  up  a  similar  Ihime  through'iut  Switzerlond,  at  Geneva, 
&c.  and  died  lighting,  sword  in  hand,  for  the  Keformution,  which  he  prcurhcd. 
The  United  States  embraced  Protestantism  und  rfiiouneed  their  sovereign,  Philip, 
at  the  same  time.  The  ('alvinists  of  France,  in  conformity  with  tlie  doctrine  of 
their  master,  namely,  thut  "  princes  deprive  themselves  of  their  power,  when  they 
resist  God,  and  thut  it  is  better  to  spit  in  their  faces  than  obey  them,"  Don.  vi.  22, 
as  soon  as  they  found  themsclvt^s  strong  enough,  rose  in  arms  against  their  sove- 
reigns, and  dispos.Hes>*r(l  tiiem  of  iiulf  tlirir  dominions.  Knox,  (loodnian,  Ruchan- 
on,  und  the  oMin-  pieuchcrauf  ^r(:!^I<ytcltuni  in  in  Scutloud, Ituviiig  tuuKhttho  [wo' 


284 


^  Letter  XLVL 


TO  from  what  sir  Edward  Sandys,  an  early  and  zealous  Pro- 
testant writes.     "  The  Pope  was  the  common  Father,  adviser 
and  conductor  of  Christians,  to  reconcile  their  enmities,  and  de- 
cide their  differences."*     1  have  to  observe,  secondly,  that  the 
question  here  is  not  about  the  personal  qualities,  or  conduct  of 
any  particular  Pope,  or  of  the  Popes  in  general )  at  the  same 
time,  it  is  proper  to  state,  that  in  a  list  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty-three  Popes,  who  have  successively  filled  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter,  only  a  small  comparative  number  of  them,  have  dis- 
graced it,  while  a  great  proportion  of  them  have  done  honour 
to  it,  by  their  virtues  and  conduct.    On  this  head,  I  must  again 
quote  Addison,  who  says ;  "  the  Pope  is  generally  a  man  of 
learning  and  virtue,  mature  in  3'ears  and  experience,  who  has 
seldom  any  vanity  or  pleasure  to  gratify  at  his  people's  ex- 
pense, and  is  neither  encumbered  with  wife  and  children,  or 
inistresses."f      "'  "'  '■,''•■•'  )--u><u;\  tcx;.!  -.-■ 

^  In  the  third  place,  I  must  remind  you  and  my  other  friends, 
that  I  have  nothing  here  to  do  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Pope's 
individual  infallibility,  (when  pronouncing  Ex  Cathedra^  as  the 
term  is,  he  addresses  the  whole  church,  and  delivers  the  faith  of 
it  upon  some  contested  article,)  J  nor  would  you,  in  case  you 
were  to  become  a  Catholic,  be  required  to  believe  in  any  doc- 
trines, except  such  as  are  held  by  the  whole  Catholic  church, 
with  the  Pope  at  it&  head.     But,  without  entering  into  tills  or 


pie,  that  "  princes  may  be  deposed  by  their  subjects,  if  they  be  tyrants  against  God 
and  his  tiutli :"  and  that  "  It  is  blasphemy  to  say  that  kiti^s  arc  to  be  obeyed,  good 
or  bad,"  disposed  them  for  the  perpetration  of  those  riots  and  violences,  including 
the  murder  of  Cardinal  Beaton,  and  the  deposition  and  captivity  of  their  lawful 
sovereign,  by  which  Protestantism  was  establisiied  in  tliat  country.  With  respect 
to  England,  no  sooner  was  the  son  of  Henry  dead,  than  a  Protestant  usurper,  lady 
Jane,  was  set  up.  In  prejudice  of  his  daughters,  Mary  and  Klizabetli,  and  supported 
by  Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer,  Sandys,  Poynet,  and  every  Kefonner  of  any  note, 
because  she  was  a  Prote't*- nt.  Finally,  it  was  upon  tlie  principles  of  the  Ueforma- 
tion,  csp(!cially  that  of  each  man's  explaining  the  Scripture  for  himself,  and  a  ha- 
tred of  Popery,  that  the  Grand  Rebellion  was  begun  and  carried  on,  till  the  king 
>vas  beheaded  and  the  constitution  destroyed.  Has  then  the  cause  of  humaiuty,  or 
uiat  of  peace  and  order,  been  benehttud  by  the  change  in  question  T 

♦  Survey  of  Europe,  p.  202. 

t  Remarks  on  Italy,  p.  112.  

X  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  Barrow's  and  Tillotson's  chicanery  m  their 
Trtatise  of  the  Suprmtaaj.  Bellarmin,  in  workinc;  up  an  argument  on  the  Pope's 
iufallibility,  says,  hypothetically  by  way  of  proving  the  falsehood  of  his  opponent's 
doctrine,  that  "  this  doctrine  would  oblige  the  church  to  believe  vicet  to  be  goody 
and  virtues  to  be  bail,  in  case  the  Pope  wore  to  err  in  teaehitjg  tliis."  Bell.  De  Rom. 
Pont  1.  Iv.  c.  .*>.  Hence  these  writers  take  occasion  to  aliirni,  that  Bellarmin  poa^ 
Hvely  teaches,  that  "  if  the  Pope  should  err,  by  enjoining  vices,  or  forbidding  vii> 
tues,  the  church  should  be  bound  to  believe  vices  to  be  good  and  virtues  evil!"  p 
SOS.  This  shanipful  misrepresentation  has  been  taken  up  by  most  subsequent  Pre 
loitaiU  coQti'ovcrlutts. 


Letter  XLVL 


385 


zealous  Pro- 
ther,  advisei-, 
lities,  and  de- 
idly,  that  the 
)r  conduct  of 

at  the  same 
hundred  and 

chair  of  St. 
n,  have  dis- 
done  honour 
I  must  again 
ly  a  man  of 
ice,  who  has 
people's  ex- 
children,  or 

ther  friends, 
*  the  Pope's 
ierfra,  as  the 
the  faith  of 
in  case  you 
in  any  doc» 
olic  church, 
into  tilts  or 

Its  s^ainst  God 
e  obeyed,  good 
tioes,  including 
of  their  lawful 
Willi  respect 
t  usurper,  lady 
and  supported 
r  of  any  note, 
f  the  Ueforma- 
self,  and  a  ha> 
n,  till  the  king 
f  huiiULtuty,  or 


sncTT  m  their 
on  the  Pope's 
lis  opponent's 
ret  to  be  goo(L 
liell,  De  Rom. 
lellarmin  pos^ 
brbidding  vii^ 
tues  evil!"  p 
bsequcDt  Pk 


uny  other  fichr^sistic  question,  I  shall  content  myself  with  ob- 
serving, thkt  ^s  impossible  for  any  man  of  candour  and  learn- 
ing, not  to  oc  icur  with  a  celebrated  Protestant  author,  namely, 
Causabon,  who  writes  thus :  "  No  one,  who  is  the  least  versed 
in  ecclesiastical  history,  can  doubt,  that  God  made  use  of  the 
holy  See,  during  many  ages,  to  preserve  the  doctrines  of 
faith!"* 

At  length  we  arrive  at  the  question  itself,  which  is,  whether 
the  bishop  of  Rome,  who,  by  pre-eminence,  is  called  Papa 
(Pope,  or  father  of  the  faithful)  is  or  is  not  entitled  to  a  supe- 
rior rank  and  jurisdiction,  above  other  bishops  of  the  Christian 
church,  so  as  to  be  its  spiritual  head  here  upon  earth,  and  so 
that  his  See  is  the  centre  of  Catholic  unity  9     All  Catholics  ne- 
cessarily hold  the  affirmative  of  this  question,  while  the  above- 
mentioned  tergiversating  primate  denies,  that  there  is  a  tolera- 
ble argument  in  its  favour.f     Let  us  begin  with  coasulting  the 
New  Testament,  in  order  to  see,  whether  or  no  the  first  Pope  or 
bishop  of  Rome,  St.  Peter,  was  any  way  superior  to  the  other 
apostles.     St.  Matthew,  in  numbering  up  the  apostles,  expressly 
says  of  him,  THE  FIRST,  SimoUy  who  is  called  Peter,  Mat. 
X.  2.     In  like  manner,  the  other  Evangelists,  while  they  class 
the  other  apostles  differently,  still  give  the  first  place  to  Peter.|; 
In  fact,  as  Bossuet  observes,^  "  St.  Peter  was  the  first  to  con- 
less  his  faith  in  Christ  ;||  the  first  to  whom  Christ  appeared, 
after  his  resurrection  jIF  the  first  to  preach  the  belief  of  this  to 
the  people  j**  the  first  to  convert  the  Jews  ;f  f  and  the  first  to 
receive  the  Gentiles."Jf     Again  I  would  ask,  is  there  no  dis- 
tinction implied,  in  St.  Peter's  being  called  upon  by  Christ  to 
declare  tiiree  several  times,  that  he  loved  him,  and  even  that  he 
ioced  him  more  than  his  fellow  apostles,  and  in  his  being  each 
♦ime  charged  lo  feed  Chrisfs  lambs,  and,  at  length,  to  feed  his 
fheep  also,  whom  the  lambs  are  used  to  follow  ?<^^     What  else 
is  here  signified,  but  that  this  apostle  was  to  act  the  part  of  a 
shepherd,  not  only  with  respect  to  the  flock  in  general,  but  also 

♦  P.xercft.  XV.  ad  Annal.  Baron. 

t  Tillotson's  father  was  an  Anabaptist,  aod  he  hiouelf  was  profeasedlT  a  Puritaa 
preacher,  till  the  Restoration,  so  that  there  is  reason  to  doubt  whether  he  ever  re- 
ceived either  Episcopal  Ordination  or  Baptism.  His  successor,  Seeker,  was  also 
a  Dissenter,  and  his  baptism  has  been  called  in  question.  The  former,  with  bishop 
Burnet,  was  called  upon  to  attend  lord  Russcl  at  his  execution,  when  they  abso- 
lutely insisted,  as  a  point  necessary  for  salvation,  on  his  disclaiming  the  lawAilness 
of  resistance  in  any  case  whatever.  Presently  after,  the  revolution  happening,  tlx^ 
themselves  declared  for  lord  Russol's  principles.  ,,, 

}  Mark  ill.  16.  Luke  vi.  14.  Acts  i.  13.  ^OratadCIer. 

IMatxvl.  16.  H  Lwke  xxiv.  34.  ,     **  Acts  ii.I4.  "'^ 

♦tVer.  87,  JMbid.x.47.  §§Johnxxl-  Ifi.  ■■> 


286 


Letter  XLVL 


With  respect  to  the  pastors  themselves  ?  The  same  is  pUinly 
signified  by  our  Lord's  prayer  for  the  faith  of  this  apostle,  in 
particular,  and  the  charge  that  he  subsequently  gave  him :  Simon, 
SimoTif  behold  Satan  has  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift 
you,  as  wheat :  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail 
not ;  and  thou,  being  once  converted,  confirm  thy  brethren.  Luke 
xxii.  32.  Is  there  no  mysterious  meaning  in  the  circumstance, 
marked  by  the  Evangelist,  of  Christ's  entering  into  Simon^s 
ship,  in  preference  to  that  of  James  and  John,  in  order  to  teach 
the  people  out  of  it,  and  in  the  subsequent  miraculous  draught 
of  fishes,  together  with  our  Lord's  prophetic  declaration  to  Si- 
mon:  Fearnot,from  henceforth  thou  sholt  catch  men.  Luke  v. 
3.  10.  But  the  strongest  proof  of  St.  Peter's  superior  dignity 
and  jurisdiction  consists  in  that  explicit  and  energetical  declara- 
tion, of  our  Saviour  to  him,  in  the  quarters  of  Cesarea  Philip- 
pi,  upon  his  making  that  glorious  confession  of  our  Lord's  di- 
vinity :  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  Our  Lord 
had  mysteriously  changed  his  name,  at  his  first  interview  with 
him,  when  Jesus  looking  upon  him,  said,  Thou  art  Simon,  the 
Son  of  Jona ;  thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas,  which  is  interpreted 
Peter^  John  i.  42 :  and,  on  the  present  occasion,  he  explains 
the  mystery,  where  he  saj's,  Blessed  art  thou  Simon,  Bar- Jona . 
because  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  my  Fa- 
ther, tpho  is  in  heaven:  And  I  say  to  thee:  that  thou  art  Peter 
(a  rock,)  and  UPOJV  THIS  ROCK  I  WILL  BUILD 
MY  CHURCH,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it :  and  I  vnll  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  . 
and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  hca- 
ven ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loostd 
also  in  heaven.  Mat.  xvi.  17,  18,  19.  Where  now,  I  ask,  is  the 
sincere  Christian,  and  especially  the  Christian  who  professes  to 
make  Scripture  the  sole  rule  of  his  faith,  who,  with  these  pas- 
sages of  the  inspired  text  before  his  eyes,  will  venture,  at  the 
risk  of  his  soul,  to  deny  that  any  special  dignity  or  charge  was 
conferred  upon  St.  Peter,  in  preference  to  the  other  apostles  ? 
I  trust  no  such  Christian  is  to  be  found  in  your  society.  Now, 
ns  it  is  a  point  agreed  upon,  at  least  in  your  church  and  mi>i.;, 
that  bishops,  in  general,  succeed  to  the  rank  and  functions  of 
the  apostles,  so,  by  the  same  rule,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
in  the  See  of  Rome,  succeeds  to  his  primacy  and  jurisdiction. 
This  cannot  be  questioned  by  any  serious  Christian,  who  re- 
flects, that,  when  our  Siiviour  gave  his  orders  tihoui  feeding  his 
flock,  and  made  hisii  declaration  about  building  his  church,  he 
was  not  establishing  an  order  of  things  to  last  during  the  fciV 


Letter  XLVI. 


»67 


'■  is  pluiiily 
apostle,  in 
im:  Simon, 
he  may  sift 
y  faith  fail 
hren.  Luke 
•cumstance, 
ito  Simon^s 
ler  to  teach 
)us  draught 
ition  to  Si- 
Luke  V. 
■ior  dignity 
nl  declara- 
irea  Philip- 
Lord's  di- 
Our  Lord 
rview  with 
Simorif  the 
interpreted 
le  explains 
Bar-Jona. 
but  my  Fa- 
u  art  Peter 
V  BUILD 
)ail  against 
f  Heaven . 
ad  in  hca- 
l  be  loostd 
ask,  is  the 
irofesses  to 
these  pas- 
ire,  at  the 
:harge  was 
r  apostles  ? 
ty.     Now, 
and  mi'i.;, 
inctions  of 
St.  Peter, 
irisdiction. 
1,  who  re- 
fecding  his 
hurch,  he 
iig  the  feA' 


years  that  St.  Peter  had  to  live,  but  one  that  was  to  last  as  long 
as  he  should  have  a  flock  and  a  church  on  earth,  that  is  to 
the  end  of  time ;  conformably  with  his  promise  to  the  apostles, 
and  their  successors,  in  the  concluding  words  of  St.  Matthew : 
Behold  I  am  with  you  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world*  Mat. 
xxviii.  20. 

That  St.  Peter  (after  governing  for  a  time,  the  patriarchate 
of  Antioch,  the  capital  of  the  East,  and  thence  sending  his 
disciple,  Mark,  to  establish  that  of  Africa  at  Alexandria)  final* 
ly  fixed  his  own  See  at  Rome,  the  capital  of  the  world,  that  his 
successors  there  have  each  of  them  exercised  the  power  of  su- 
preme pastor,  and  have  been  acknowledged  as  such  by  all 
Christians,  except  by  notorious  heretics  and  schismatics,  from 
the  apostolic  age  down  to  the  present,  the  writings  of  the  fa- 
thers, doctors,  and  historians  of  the  church  unanimously  testify, 
St.  Paul,  having  been  converted,  and  raised  to  the  apostleship 
in  a  miraculous  manner,  thought  it  necessary  to  go  up  to  Jeru- 
salem to  see  Peter,  where  he  abode  vnth  him  fifteen  days.  Galat. 
i.  18.  St.  Ignatius,  who  was  a  disciple  of  the  apostles,  and 
next  successor,  after  Evodius,  of  St.  Peter  in  the  See  of  Anti- 
och, addresses  his  most  celebrated  epistle  to  the  church,  which 
he  says,  "PRESIDES  in  the  country  of  the  Romans."* 
About  the  same  time,  dissensions  taking  place  in  the  church  of 
Corinth,  the  case  was  referred  to  the  church  of  Rome,  to  which 
the  Holy  Pope  Clement,  whose  name  is  written  in  the  book  of 
life,  Philip,  iv.  3,  returned  an  apostolical  answer  of  exhortation 
and  instruction. f 

In  the  second  century,  St.  Irenseus  who  had  been  instructed  by 
St.  Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  referring  to 
the  tradition  of  the  apostles,  preserved  in  the  church  of  Rome,  calls 
it  "  the  greatest,  most  ancient,  and  most  universally  known,  as 
having  been  founded  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul ;  to  which  (he  says) 
every  church  is  bound  to  conform,  by  reason  of  its  superior 
authority.''^  Tertullian,  a  priest  of  the  Roman  church,  who 
flourished  near  the  same  time,  calls  St.  Peter,  "  the  rock  of  the 
church,**  and  says,  that  "  the  church  was  built  upon  him."^ 
Speaking  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  he  terms  him  in  diflerent 
places,  "  the  blessed  Pope,  the  high  priest,  the  apostolic  pre* 
late,  &c.**  I  must  add,  that,  at  this  early  period.  Pope  Victor 
exerted  his  superior  authority,  by  threatening  the  bishops  of 
Asia  with  excommunication  for  their  irregularity  in  celebrating 

♦  rifoiMidw*!,  Epist.  Ignat.  Cotelero.  t  Cotelcr. 

t  '*Ad  banc  ecdesiam  convcnire  tieccssc  cat  omnem  ecclesiam.**    Cootni 
Haercs.  1.  iilc.  3.  ^  Prescrip.  L  i.  c.  22.  Do  Monogam.  ,  . 


28B 


X  Letter  XLVL 


Easter,  and  the  other  moveable  feasts,  from  which  rigorous 
measure  he  was  deterred,  chiefly  by  St.  Irenneus.*  In  the  third 
century,  we  hear  Origenf  and  St.  Cyprian  repeatedly  affirm- 
ing, that  the  church  was  "  founded  on  Peter,"  that  he  "  fixed 
his  chair  at  Rome,"  that  this  is  "  the  mother  church,"  and 
"  the  root  of  Catholicity." J  The  latter  expresses  great  indig- 
nation that  certain  African  schismatics  should  dare  to  approach 
"  the  See  of  Peter,  the  head  church  and  source  of  ecclesiastical 
unity."<^  It  is  true,  this  father  afterwards  had  a  dispute  with 
Pope  Stephen,  about  rebaptizing  converts  from  heresy;  but  this 
proves  nothing  more  than  that  he  did  not  think  the  Pope's  au- 
thority superior  to  general  tradition,  which,  through  mistake, 
he  supposed  to  be  on  his  side.  To  what  degree,  however,  he 
did  admit  this  authority,  appears  by  his  advising  this  same 
Pope,  to  depose  Marcian,  a  schismatical  bishop  of  Gaul,  and  to 
appoint  another  bishop  in  his  place.  ||  At  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century  we  have  the  learned  Greek  historian,  Eusebius, 
explaining  in  clear  terms,  the  ground  of  the  Roman  pontiff's 
claim  to  superior  authority,  which  he  derives  from  St.  Peter  ;1[ 
we  have  also  the  great  champion  of  orthodoxy  and  the 
patriarch  of  the  second  See  in  the  world,  St.  Athanasius,  ap- 
pealing to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  which  See  he  terms  "  the  mo- 
ther and  the  head  of  all  other  churches."**  In  fact,  the  Pope 
reversed  the  sentence  of  deposition,  pronounced  by  the  saint's 
enemies,  and  restored  him  to  his  patriarchal  chair.f  f  Soon 
after  this,  the  council  of  Sardica  confirmed  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
in  his  right  of  receiving  appeals  from  all  the  churches  in  the 
world. {]);  Even  the  Pagan  historian,  Ammianus,  about  the 
same  time,  bears  testimony  to  the  superior  authority  of  the  Ro- 
man Pontift*.>^<§  In  the  same  century,  St.  Basil,  St.  Hilary, 
St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Ambrose,  and  other  fathers  and  doctors, 
teach  the  same  thing.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  the  first  named 
of  these  scruples  not  to  advise,  that  the  Pope  should  send  visit- 
ers to  the  eastern  churches,  to  correct  the  disorders,  which  the 
Arians  had  caused  in  them,||||  and  that  the  last  mentioned  re- 
presents communion  with  the  bishop  of  Rome,  as  communion 
with  the  Catholic  church. ITIF  I  must  add,  that  the  great  St. 
Chrysostom,  having  been,  soon  after,  unjustly  deposed  from  his 
feat  in  the  Eastern  Metropolis,  was  restored  to  it  by  the  au- 


*  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  1.  v.  c.  34.  t  Horn.  6  in  Rxod.  Horn.  17  in  Lua 

X  Ep.  ad  Cornel.    £p.  ad  Anton.    De  Unit.  &c.        ^  Ep.  ad  Cornel.  55. 
I  Ep.  29.  fl  Euscb.  Cliron.  An.  44.  ♦♦  Epist.  ad  Marc, 

tt  Secret.  Hist.  1.  ii.  c.  2.  Zozom.  XX  Can.  3. 

kk  Eerum  Gcst.  1.  xv.  JHI  Epist  52.  1f^  Orat.  in  Obit  Satyr. 


Letter  XLVl. 


28d 


ich  rigorous 

In  the  third 
tedly  affirm- 
it  he  "  fixed 
hurch,"  and 
great  indig. 
to  approach 
ecclesiastical 
dispute  with 
esy ;  but  thig 
!  Pope's  au- 
(gh  mistake, 
however,  he 
g  this  same 
Gaul,  and  to 
ming  of  the 
1,  Eusebius, 
lan  pontifl^'s 
St.  Peter  ;ir 
Ky  and  the 
lanasius,  ap- 
s  "  the  mo- 
ct,  the  Pope 
y  the  saint's 
r.ff  Soon 
)p  of  Rome, 
ches  in  the 

about  the 
^  of  the  Ro- 

St.  Hilary, 
nd  doctors, 
first  named 
1  send  visit< 
,  which  the 
entioned  re- 
communion 

great  St. 
sed  from  his 

by  the  au- 


17  in  Lua 

rnel.  55. 
pist.  ad  Marc. 

1. 

.  Satyr. 


(hority  t>f  Pope  Innocent ;  that  Pope  Leo  termed  his  ehurch 
**  the  head  of  the  world,  because  its  spiritual  power,  as  he  al- 
leged, extended  farther  than  the  temporal  power  of  Rome  faad 
ever  extended."*  Finally,  the  learned  St.  Jerom,  being  dis- 
tracted with  the  disputes  among  three  parties,  which  divided 
the  church  of  Antioch,  to  which  church  he  was  then  subject, 
wrote  for  directions,  on  this  head,  to  Pope  Damasus,  as  follows : 
'*  I,  who  am  but  a  sheep,  apply  to  my  shepherd  for  succour.  I 
am  united  with  your  holiness,  that  is  to  say^  with  the  chair  ot 
Peter,  in  communion.  I  know  that  the  church  is  built  upon 
that  rock.  He  who  eats  the  Paschal  Lamb  out  of  that  house, 
is  profane.  Whoever  is  not  in  Noah's  Ark  will  perish  by  the 
deluge.  I  know  nothing  of  Vitalis,  I  reject  Melitius,  I  am  ig- 
norant of  Paulinus :  he  who  does  not  gather  with  thee,  scat- 
ters," &c.f  It  were  useless,  after  this,  to  cite  the  numeroaa 
testimonies  to  the  Pope's  supremacy,  which  St.  Augnstin,  and 
all  the  fathers,  doctors,  and  church  historians,  and  all  the  ge- 
neral councils  bear,  down  to  the  present  time.  However,  aa 
the  authority  of  our  apostle.  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  is 
claimed  by  most  Protestant  divines  on  their  side,  and  is  alluded 
to  by  Bp.  Porteusjj  merely  for  having  censured  the  pride  of 
John,  patriarch  of  C.  P.  in  assuming  to  himself  the  title  of 
(Echumenical  or  universal  bishop;  it  is  proper  to  show,  that  this 
Pope,  like  all  the  others  who  went  before  him,  and  came  after 
him,  did  claim  and  exercise  the  power  of  supreme  pastor, 
throughout  the  church.  Speaking  of  this  very  attempt  of  John, 
he  says,  "  The  care  of  the  whole  church  was  committed  to 
Peter,  and  yet  he  is  not  called  the  universal  apostle."^  With 
respect  to  the  See  of  C.  P.  he  says,  "  Who  doubts  but  it  is 
subject  to  the  apostolic  See ;"  and  again,  "  When  bishops  com- 
mit a  fault,  I  know  not  what  bishop  is  not  subject  to  it,"  (the 
See  of  Rome.)\\  As  no  Pope  was  ever  more  vigilant,  in  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  his  exalted  station,  than  St.  Gregory,  so 
none  of  them,  perhaps,  exercised  more  numerous  or  widely  ex- 
tended acts  of  the  supremacy,  than  he  did.  It  is  sufficient  to 
cite  here  his  direction*  to  St.  Austin  of  Canterbury,  whom  he 
had  sent  into  this  island,  for  the  conversion  of  our  Saxon  an- 
cestors, and  who  had  consulted  him,  by  letter,  how  he  was  to 
act  with  respect  to  the  French  bishops,  and  the  bishops  of  this 

*  Sena,  de  Nat  Apos.    This  sentiment,  another  father  of  the  church,  in  the  (bl 
k>win9  century,  St  Prosper,  expressed  in  these  lines :  "  Rf>«'r«  »*--     "    .;  m*^,!.,! 
paatoralis  honoris ;  Facta  caput  mundo,  quidquid  no.* 
tenet"  t  >• 

t  P.  78.  ^  Ep.  Greg.  1.  V. 20.  '   )  iH  ' 


8£K) 


Letter  TLLVt. 


island,  namely,  the  British  prelates  in  Wales,  and  the  Pict'isb 
and  Scotch  in  the  northern  parts.  To  this  question  Pope  Gre« 
gory  returns  an  answer  in  the  following  words :  "  We  give  you 
no  jurisdiction  over  the  bishops  of  Gaul,  because,  from  ancient 
times,  my  predecessors  have  conferred  the  Pallium  (the  ensign 
of  legatine  authority)  on  the  bishop  of  Aries,  whom  we  ought 
not  to  deprive  of  the  authority  he  has  received.  But  we  com- 
mit all  the  bishops  of  Britain  to  your  care,  that  the  ignorant 
among  them  may  be  instructed,  the  weak  strengthened,  and  the 
perverse  corrected  by  your  authority."*  After  this  is  it  pos- 
sible to  believe  that  Bp.  Porteus  and  his  fellow  writers  ever 
read  Venerable  Bede's  History  of  the  English  nation  ?  But  if 
they  could  even  succeed  in  proving  that  Christ  had  not  built 
his  church  upon  St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  and  had  not  given 
them  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  it  would  still  remain 
for  them  to  prove,  that  he  had  founded  any  part  of  it  on  Henry 
VUI,  Edward  VI,  and  their  successors,  or  that  he  had  given  the 
mystical  keys  to  Elizabeth  and  her  successors.  I  have  shown, 
in  a  former  letter,  that  these  sovereigns  exercised  a  more  despotic 
power  over  all  the  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual  afiairs  of  this 
realm,  than  any  Pope  ever  did,  even  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and 
that  the  changes  in  religion,  which  took  place  in  their  reigns, 
were  effected  by  them  and  their  agents,  not  by  the  bishops  or  any 
clergy  whatever;  and  yet  no  one  will  pretend  to  show  from  Scrip- 
ture, tradition,  or  reason,  that  these  princes  had  received  any 
greater  power  from  Christ  over  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of 
his  church,  than  he  conferred  upon  Tiberius,  Pilate,  or  Herod, 
or  than  he  has  given  at  the  present  day,  to  the  great  Turk 
or  the  Lama  of  Thibet,  in  their  respective  dominions. 

Before  I  close  this  letter  I  think  it  right  to  state  the  senti- 
ments of  a  ky/  eminent  Protestants  respecting  the  Pope's  su- 
premacy. I  have  already  mentioned,  that  Luther  acknowledged 
it,  and  submissively  bowed  to  it,  during  the  three  first  years  of 
his  dogmatizing  about  justification  ^  and  till  his  doctrine  was 
condemned  at  Rome.  In  like  manner,  our  Henry  VIII.  assert- 
ed it,  and  wrote  a  book  in  defence  of  it,  in  reward  of  which  the 
Pope  conferred  upon  him  and  his  successors  the  new  title  of 
Defender  of  the  Faith.  Such  was  his  doctrine ;  till,  becoming 
amorous  of  his  queen's  maid  of  honour,  Ann  Bullen,  and  finding 
the  Pope  conscientiously  inflexible  in  refusing  to  grant  him  a 
divorce  from  the  former,  and  to  sanction  an  adulterous  con- 
nexion with  the  latter,  he  set  himself  up,  as  supreme  head  of  the 


I  ! 


*  Hut.  Bed.  1.  i.  c.  37.    Resp.  9.    Spelm..Concil.  p.  98. 


LeUer  XLVL 


2fii 


[  the  Picfisb 
I  Pope  Gre^ 
Ve  give  you 
roni  ancient 
(the  ensign 
n  we  ought 
ut  we  com- 
be ignorant 
led,  and  the 
is  is  it  pos- 
writers  ever 
n  ?     But  if 
id  not  built 
i  not  given 
still  remain 
t  on  Henry 
d  given  the 
ave  shown, 
ire  despotic 
irs  of  this 
Rome,  and 
leir  reigns, 
ops  or  any 
rom  Scrip- 
ceived  any 
iscipline  of 
or  Herod, 
reat  Turk 

the  senti- 
Pope's  su- 
now  lodged 
St  years  of 
ctrine  was 
III.  assert- 
which  the 
Bw  title  of 
becoming 
nd  finding 
rant  him  a 
;rous  con- 
xead  of  the 


chunk  of  England^  and  maintained  his  claim  by  the  arguments 
of  halters,  knives,  and  axes.     James  I,  in  his  first  speech  in  par- 
liament, termed  Rome  "  the  mother  church,"  and  in  his  writ- 
ings allowed  the  Pope  to  be  "  The  patriarch  of  the  West." 
The  late  archbishop  Wake,  after  all  his  bitter  writings  against 
the  Pope  and  the  Catholic  church,  coming  to  discuss  the  terms 
uf  a  proposed  union  between  this  church  and  that  of  Englandi 
expressed  himself  willing  to  allow  a  certain  superiority  to  the 
Roman  pontiff.^     Bishop  Bramhall  had  expressed  the  same 
sentiment,f  sensible  as  he  was,  that  no  peace  or  order  could 
subsist  in  the  Christian  church,  any  more  than  in  a  political 
state,  without  a  supreme  authority.    Of  the  truth  of  this  maxim, 
two  others,  among  the  greatest  men  whom  Protestantism  has  to 
boast  of,  tiie  Lutheran  Melancthon,  and  the  Calvinist  Hugo 
Grotius,  were  deeply  persuaded.     The  former  had  written  to 
prove  the  Pope  to  be  Antichrist ;  but  seeing  the  animosities, 
the  divisions,  the  errors,  and  the  impieties  of  the  pretended  re- 
formers, with  whom  he  was  connected,  and  the  utter  impossi- 
bility of  putting  a  stop  to  these  evils,  without  returning  to  the 
ancient  system,  he  wrote  thus  to  Francis  I,  of  France :  "  We 
acknowledge,  in  the  first  place,  that  ecclesiastical  government 
is  a  thing  holy  and  salutary  :  namely,  that  there  should  be  cer- 
tain bishops  to  govern  the  pastors  of  several  churches,  and  that 
THE  ROMAN  PONTIFF  should  be  above  all  the  bishops. 
For  the  church  stands  in  need  of  governors,  to  examine  and 
ordain  those  who  are  called  to  the  ministry,  and  to  watch  over 
their  doctrine ;  so  that,  if  there  were  no  bishops,  they  ought  to 
be  created."!     The  latter  great  man,  Grotius,  was   learned, 
wise,  and  always  consistent.     In  proof  of*  this  he  wrote  as  fol- 
lows, to  the  minister.  Rivet :  "  All  who  are  acquainted  with 
Grotius,  know  how  earnestly  he  hs^  wished  to  see  Christians 
united  together  in  one  body.  This  he  once  thought  might  have 
been  accomplished  by  a  union  among  Protestants,  biit  after- 
wards, he  saw  that  this  is  impossible.    Because,  not  to  meQtion 
the  aversion  of  Calvinists  to  every  sort  of  union,  Protestants 
are  not  bound  by  any  ecclesiastical  government,  so  that  they 
can  neither  be  united  at  present,  nor  prevented  from  splitting 
into  fresh  divisions.   Therefore  Grotius  now  is  fully  convinced, 


!»•'!'   It   • 


'*'  "  Suo  Gaudeat  qualicunque  Frimatu."    See  Maclain's  Third  Appendix  to 

Mosheim'a  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  v. 
t  Answer  to  Milltiere.  '  '  '  :■■         ,■  •  >" 

X  D'Argeiitre,  Collect.  Jud.  t.  i.  p.  2.— Bercastel  and  Feller  relate,  that  Melanc 

thongs  mother,  who  was  a  Catholic,  having  consulted  him  about  her  religion,  h 

persuaded  her  to  continue  in  it. 
28 


1393 


Letter  XLVIl 


as  many  others  are  also,  that  Protestants  n^ver  cnn  be  united 
ampng  themselves,  unless  they  johi  those  who  adhere  to  the 
Roman  See ;  without  which  tiiere  never  can  be  any  general 
church  government.  Hence  he  wishes  that  the  revolt  and  the 
tauses  of  it  may  be  removed,  among  which  causes,  the  primacy 
of  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  not  one,  as  Melancthon  confessed 
who  also  thought  that  primacy  necessary  to  restore  union."* 

I  am.  Sec. 


yirii. 


tmt 


<;;,    ,' 


■ .  I : ' 


)!.  li ',  •- 


I 


«,•!    i;';!(.  i  -',■    Il';i; 


T 


•Mil 


-i-flMJijfp 


LETTER  XLVIL 
To  JAMES  BROWK,  Jun,  Esq, 


'.  /' 


)'M 


OA*  rA£  iJUiQU^GE  OF  THE  LITURGY  AXD  OJV  READlffQ 

hi^i'nv^,u>^   r:  r      THfi  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.       ,  ,      ,,,^  ,.  „,,     ; 


.r 


EAR  Sir, 

I  AGREE  with  your  worthy  father,  that  the  departure  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Clayton,  to  a  foreign  country,  is  a  loss  to  your  Sa- 
lopian Society  in  more  respects  than  one ;  and  as  it  is  his  wish 
that  1  should  address  the  few  remaining  letters  I  have  to  write, 
m  answer  to  bishop  Porteus's  book,  to  you,  sir,  who,  it  seems, 
agree  with  him  in  the  main,  but  not  altogether,  on  religious 
subjects,  I  shall  do  so,  for  your  own  satisfaction  and  that  of 
your  friends,  who  are  still  pleased  to  hear  me  upon  them.  In- 
deed the  remaining  controversies  between  that  prelate  and  my- 
self are  of  light  moment,  compared  with  those  I  have  been 
treating  of,  as  they  consist  chiefly  of  disciplinary  matters,  sub- 
ject to  the  control  ,of  the  church,  or  of  particular  facts  misre- 
presented by  his  Iprdship.  •  '  f 

The  first  of  these  points  of  changeable  discipline,  which  the 
bishop  mentions,  or  rather  declaims  upon  throughout  a  whole 
chapter,  is  the  use  of  the  Latin  tongue  in  the  public  liturgy  of 
the  Latin  church.  It  is  natural  enough  that  the  church  of 
England,  which  is  of  modern  date,  and  confined  to  its  own  do* 
main,  should  adopt  its  own  language,  in  its  public  worship ; 


Apul.  ad  Rivet. 


Letter  XLVIL 


993 


be  united 
ere  to  the 
y  genera] 
It  and  the 
e  primacy 
confessed 
inion."* 


ic. 


J.M. 


I  ■;!'(• 


.  -'Mil 


re  of  the 
your  Sa- 
i  his  wish 
to  write, 
It  seems, 
religious 
d  that  of 
em.     Iii- 
and  my- 
ive  been 
ers,  sub- 
ts  misre- 

hich  the 
a  whole 
turgy  ot' 
lurch  of 
own  do« 
i^orship ; 


ttild,  for  a  similar  reason,  it  is  proper  that  the  great  Western  oi* 
Latin  church,  which  was  established  by  the  apostles,  when  the 
Latin  tongue  was  the  vulgar  tongue  of  Europe,  and  which  still 
is  the  conmion  language  of  educated  persons  in  every  part  ol* 
it,  should  retain  this  language  in  her  public  service.  When  the 
bishop  complains  of  "  our  worship  being  performed  in  an  un- 
known tongue*^*  and  of  our  "  wicked  and  cruel  cunning  in 
keeping  people  in  darkness  "^  by  this  means,  under  pretext  that 
"  they  reverence  what  they  do  not  understand,"!  he  must  b<j 
conscious  of  the  irreligious  calumnies  he  is  uttering :  knowing, 
as  he  does,  that  Latin  is,  perhaps,  still  the  most  general  lan- 
guage of  Christianity,'^  and  that,  where  it  is  not  commonly 
understood,  it  is  not  the  church  which  has  introduced  a  foreign 
language  among  the  people,  but  it  is  the  people  who  have  for- 
gotten their  ancient  language.  So  far  removed  is  the  Catholic 
church  from  "  the  wicked  and  cruel  cunning  of  keeping  people 
in  ignorance,"  by  retaining  her  original  apostolical  languages,- 
the  Latin  and  the  Greek ;  that  $he  strictly  commands  her  pas-' 
tors  every  where,  "  to  inculcate  the  word  of  God,  and  the  les^- 
sons  of  salvation,  to  the  people,  in  their  vulgar  tongue,  every 
Sunday  and  festival  throughout  the  year,"||  and  "  to  explain 
to  them  the  nature  and  meaning  of  her  divine  worship  as  fre- 
quently as  possible."ir  In  like  manner,  we  are  so  far  from 
imagining  that  the  less  our  people  understand  of  our  liturgy, 
the  more  they  reverence  it,  that  we  are  quite  sure  of  precisely 
the  contrary ;  particularly  with  respect  to  our  principal  liturgy, 
the  adorable  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  True  it  is,  that  a  part  bf 
this  is  performed  by  the  priest  in  silence,  because,  being  a  sa- 
cred action,  as  well  as  a  form  of  words,  some  of  the  prayers 
which  the  priest  says,  would  not  be  proper  or  rational  in  the 
mouths  of  the  people.  Thus,  the  high  priest  of  old  «vent  alone 
into  the  tabernacle,  to  make  the  atonement  ;**  and  thus  Za- 
chary  offered  incense  in  the  temple  by  himself;  while  the  mul- 
titude prayed  without.ff  But  this  is  no  detriment  to  the  faith- 
ful, as  they  have  translations  of  the  liturgy,  and  other  books  in 
their  hands,  by  means  of  which,  or  of  their  own  devotion,  they 
<;an  join  with  the  priest  in  every  part  of  the  solemn  worship ;  at 


-.!l    !,' 


.j'!    li-'JhMti 


♦P.  76.  tp.es.  tP.es. 

^  The  Latin  language  is  vernacular  in  Hungary  and  the  neighbouring  countries: 
it  IS  taught  in  ail  the  Catholic  settlements  of  the  universe,  and  it  approaches  M» 
near  to  the  Italian,  Spanish,  and  French,  as  to  be  understood,  in  a  general  kind  of 
way,  by  those  who  use  these  languages. 

H  Concil.  Trid.  Sess.  xxiv.  c  7.  11  Idem.  Sess.  xxi.  c.  8. 

•♦  Levit  xvi.  17.  It  Lulie  i.  10. 


i 


tH 


^te^ter  XLVIL 


Uie  Jewish  people  united  with  their  priests,  in  the  sacrificei 
above-mentioned. 

:  But  we  are  referred  by  his  lordsliip  to  1  Cor.  xiv.  in  order 
'*  to  see  what  St.  Paul  would  have  judged  of  the  Romanists 
practice"  in  retaining  the  Latm  liturgy,  (which,  after  all,  he 
himself  and  St.  Peter  established  where  it  now  prevails ;)  1  an- 
swer, that  there  is  not  a  word  in  that  chapter  whkh  mentions 
or  alludes  to  the  public  liturgy,  which  at  Corinth  was,  as  it  is 
still  performed  in  the  old  Greek ;  the  whole  of  it  regarding  an 
imprudent  and  ostentatious  use  of  the  gift  of  tongues,  in  speak- 
ing all  kinds  of  languages,  which  gift  muny  of  the  faithful  pos- 
sessed, at  that  time,  in  common  with  the  apostles.  The  very 
reason,  alleged  by  St.  Paul,  for  prohibiting  extemporary  pray- 
ers and  exhortations,  which  no  one  understood,  namely,  thaf 
all  things  should  be  done  decently  and  according  to  order ^  is  the 
principal  motive  of  the  Catholic  church,  for  retaining  Ui  \,er 
worship,  the  original  languages  employed  by  the  apostles.  She 
is,  as  I  before  remarked,  a  universal  church,  spread  over  the 
face  of  the  globe,  and  composed  of  all  nations,  and  tribes,  and 
tongues.  Rev.  vii.  9,  and  these  tongues  constantly  changing ; 
so  that  instead  of  the  uniformity  of  worship,  as  well  as  of  faith, 
which  is  so  necessary  for  that  decency  and  order,  there  would  be 
nothing  but  confusion,  disputes,  and  changes  in  every  part  ol 
her  liturgy,  if  it  were  performed  in  so  many  different  languages, 
and  dialects ;  with  the  constant  danger  of  some  alteration  or 
other  in  the  essential  forms,  which  would  vitiate  the  very  sacra- 
ment and  sacrifice.  The  advantage  of  an  ancient  language, 
for  religious  worship,  over  a  modern  one,  in  this  and  other  re- 
spects, is  acknowledged  by  the  Cambridge  professor  of  divinity. 
Dr.  Hey.  He  says,  that  such  a  one  ''  is  fixed  and  venerable, 
free  from  vulgarity,  and  even  more  perspicuous."*  But  to  re- 
turn to  bishop  Porteus's  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  St.  Paul, 
concerning  '^  the  Romanists  practice"  in  retaining  the  lan- 
guage with  the  substance  of  their  primitive  liturgy,  I  leave  you, 
dear  sir,  and  your  friends,  to  pronounce  vpo.;  it,  after  ^  -^all 
have  stated  the  following  facts.:  lst,thr*  B^  iiVjihimsell  wrote 
an  Epistle,  which  forms  part  of  the  liturgy  of  all  Christian 
churches,  to  these  very  Romanists,  in  the  Greek  language, 
though  they  themselves  made  use  of  the  Latin  :f  2dly,  that  the 
J"ws,  after  they  had  exchanged  their  original  Hebrew  for  the 
Ch.  !  *aic  tongue,  during  the  Babylonish  captivity,  continued  to 
]ti<at'ibrr«t  iiieir  liiurgy  in  the  former  language,  though  the  vul- 


^ 


*  Lectures,  vol.  It.  p.  191. 


t  St.  Jeroin.  Epiot.  133. 


Letttr  XLVn. 


S9f 


.  in  order 
Romanists 
er  all,  he 
iJs ;)  1  an- 
meiitions 
as,  as  it  is 
ardiiig  an 
in  speak- 
thful  pos- 
Tlie  very 
ary  praj - 
nely,  tiiaf 
hr^  Is  the 
^    'i<  AiCr 
ties.   Siie 
over  the 
iheSf  and 
hanging  J 
!  of  faith, 
would  be 
y  part  ol 
nguages, 
ration  or 
ry  sacra- 
anguage, 
other  re- 
divinity, 
?nerable, 
ut  to  re- 
>t.  Paul, 
tlie   lan- 
ave  you, 
r  T  oKqIi 

M  wrote 
'hristian 
nguage, 
that  the 
for  the 
nued  to 
the  vu]- 

83. 


gar  did  not  understand  it,^  and  that  our  Saviour  Christ,  as 
well  as  his  apostles,  and  u  >  her  devout  friends,  attended  tbis  ser- 
vice in  the  temple,  and  the-  synagogue,  witliout  ever  ccDsuring 
it :  3dly,  that  the  Greek  churches,  in  general,  no  less  than  the 
Latin  church,  retain  their  )riginal  puiv  Greek  tongue  in  their 
liturgy,  though  the  common  pe'  pie  have  forgotten  it,  and 
adopted  different  barbarous  dialects  instead  of  it:f  ithly  that 
patriarch  Luther  maintained,  against  Carlostad,  that  the  lan- 
guage of  public  worship,  was  a  matter  of  indiirei*encc  :  hence, 
his  disciples  professed,  in  their  Ausburg  Confession,  to  retain  the 
Laiin  language  in  certain  parts  of  their  service :  lastly,  that 
-,'lii  n  the  establishment  endeavoured,  under  Elizabeth,  and 
ui'u:  I'wards,  under  Charles  I.  to  force  their  liturgy  upon  the 
Irish  Catholics,  it  was  not  thought  necessary  to  translate  it  into 
Irish,  but  it  was  constantly  read  in  English,  of  which  the  na- 
tives did  not  understand  a  word :  thus  "  furnishing  the  Papist 
with  an  excellent  argument  against  themselves,"  as  Dr.  Heylin 
observes.! 

The  bishop  has  next  a  long  letter  on  what  he  calls,  the  pro* 
hihition  of  the  Scriptures,  by  the  Romanists,  in  which  he  con- 
(lises  and  disguises  the  subjects  he  treats  of,  to  beguile  and  in- 
flame ignorant  readers.  I  have  treated  this  matter,  at  some 
length,  in  a  former  letter,  and  therefore  shall  be  brief  in  what  I 
write  upon  it  in  this :  but  what  I  do  write  shall  be  explicit  and 
clear.  It  is  a  wicked  calumny,  then,  that  the  Catholic  church 
undervalues  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  prohibits  the  use  of  them: 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  she  that  has  religiously  preserved  them, 
as  the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  his  invaluable  gift  to  man, 
during  these  eighteen  centuries :  it  is  she  alone,  that  can  and 
does  vouch  for  their  authenticity,  their  purity,  and  their  inspi' 
ration.  But,  then,  she  knows  that  there  is  an  unwritten  word 
of  God,  called  tradition,  as  well  as  a  toritten  word,  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  that  the  former  is  the  evidence  for  the  authority  of  the 
latter,  and  that,  when  nations  had  been  converted,  and  churches 
formed  by  the  unwritten  word,  the  authority  of  this  was  nowise 
abrogated  by  the  inspired  Epistles  and  Gospels,  which  the 
apostles  and  evangelists  occasionally  sent  to  such  nations  or 
churches.  In  short,  both  these  Words  together  form  the  Ca- 
tholic rule  of  faith.  On  the  other  hand,  the  church,  consisting, 
according  to  its  more  general  division,  of  two  distinct  classes, 

•  Walton's  Polyg;lot  Prolep.  Hey,  ke. 
1  Mosheim,  by  Maclaine,  vol.  ii.  p.  575. 

t  Ward  has  successfully  ridiculed  this  attempt  lb  his  Englatuts  RffinmaHon, 
Canto  II.        ^^^ 
28* 


m6 


\v 


^Lk^er  XLVU. 


i 


the  pastors  and  their  jlocks,  the  preachers  and  their  hearers^ 
each  has  its  particular  duties  in  the  point  under  conside'-ation, 
as  n  ell  as  in  other  respects.     The  pastors  are  bound  to  study 
the  rule  of  faith  in  both  its  parts,  with  unwearied  application, 
to  be  enabled  to  acquit  themselves  of  the  ^r^^  of  all  their  duties^ 
ihat  of  preaching  the   Gospel  to  their   peo})le.^     Hence  St. 
Aihbrpse  calls  the  sacred  Scripture  the  Sacerdotal  Book,  and 
the  council  of  Cologneorders  that  it  should  "  never  be  out  of 
the  hands  of  ecclesiastics."      In    fact,   the   Catholic   clergy 
must,  and  do  employ  no  small  portion  of  their  time,  every  day, 
in  reading  different  portions  of  Holy  Writ.     But  no  such  obli- 
gation is  generally  incumbent  on  the  flock,  that  is,  on  the  laity; 
it  is  sufficient  for  them  to  hear  the  word  of  God  from  those 
whom  God  has  appointed  to  announce  and  to  explain  it  to 
them,  whether  by  sermons,  or  catechisms,  or  other  good  books, 
dr  in  the  tribunal  of  penance.    Thus,  it  is  not  the  bounden  duty 
of  all  good  subjects  to  read  and  study  the  laws  of  their  country : 
it  is  sufficient  for  them  to  hear  and  to  submit  to  the  decisions 
of  the  judges,  and  other  legal  officers,  pronouncing  upon  them ; 
nnd,  by  the  same  rule,  the  latter  would  be  inexcusable  if  they 
did  not  make  the  law  and  constitution  their  constant  study,  in 
»rder  to  decide  right.    Still,  however,  the  Catholic  church  never 
did  prohibit  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  Inity  ;she  only 
Inquired,  by  way  of  preparation,  for  this  most  difficult  and  im- 
portant study,  that  they  should  have  received  so  much  education, 
ns  would  enable  them  to  read  the  sacred  books  in  their  original 
languages,  or  in  that  ancient  and  venerable  Latin  version,  the 
fidelity  of  which  she  guarantees  to  them  ;  or,  in  rase  they  Mere 
desirons  of  reading  it  in  a  modern  tongue,  that  they  should  be 
furnished  with  some  attestation  of  their  piety  and  docility,  in 
order  to  prevent  their  turning  this  salutary  food  of  souls  into  a 
deadly  poison,  as,  it  is  universally  confessed,  so  many  thou- 
sands constantly  have  done.     At  present,  however,  the  chief 
f>astors  have  every  where  relaxed  these  disciplinary  rules,  and 
vulgar  translations  of  the  whole  Scripture  are  upon  sale,  and 
0|>en  to  every  one,  in  Italy  itself,  with  the  express  approbation 
of  the  Hon^an  pontif)'.     In  these  islands,  we  have  an  English 
version  of  the  Bible,  in  folio,  in  quarto,  and  in  octavo  forms, 
against  %vhich  our  opponents  have  no  other  objection  to  make, 
except  that  it  is  too  literal,f  that  is,  too  faithful.     But  Dr. 
Porteus  professes  not  to  admit  of  any  restriction  whatever  '*  on 


•  Trid.  SeM.  V.  cap.  2.     Sess.  xxv.  cap.  4. 

*  See  the  biiiliop  oi  Lincoln's  Klemcnts  uf  Theol.  toI.  U.  p.  18. 


.1!     •.    .) 


A 


Miter  XLriL 


297 


eir  hearergf 
nside'-ation, 
nd  to  study 

ipplication, 
their  duties^ 
Hence  St. 
JBooky  and 
;r  be  out  of 
)lic   clergy 
every  day, 
such  obli- 
tlie  laity; 
Irom  those 
plain  it  to 
ood  books, 
unden  duty 
ir  country : 
e  decisions 
ipon  them; 
ble  if  they 
)t  study,  in 
urch  never 
^ ;  she  only 
ult  and  im- 
education, 
Mr  original 
erslon,  the 
'  they  were 
should  be 
locility,  in 
)iils  into  a 
)any  thou- 
,  the  chief 
rules,  and 
I  sale,  and 
tprobation 
n  English 
ivo  forms, 
I  to  make, 
But  Dr. 
tever  "  on 

'mill  .<7t  • 


the  reading  of  what  heaven  hath  revealed,  with  respect  to  any 
part  of  mankind."  No  doubt,  the  revealed  truths  themselves 
are  to  be  made  known  as  much  as  possible,  to  all  mankind ;  but 
it  does  not  follow  from  hence,  that  all  mankind  are  to  read  the 
Scriptures :  there  are  passages  in  them,  which,  I  am  confident, 
his  lordship  would  not  wish  his  daughters  to  peruse ;  and  which, 
in  fact,  were  prohibited  to  the  Jews,  till  they  had  attained  the 
age  of  thirty.*  Again,  as  lord  Clarendon,  Mr.  Grey,  Dr.  Hey, 
&c.  agree,  that  the  misapplication  of  Scripture  was  the  cause 
of  the  destruction  of  church  and  state,  and  of  the  murder  of  the 
king  in  the  grand  rebellion,  and  as  he  must  be  sensible,  from 
his  own  observation,  that  the  same  cause  exposed  the  nation  to 
the  same  calamities  in  the  Protestant  riots  of  1780, 1  am  confi- 
dent the  bishop,  as  a  Christian,  no  less  than  as  a  British  sub- 
ject would  have  taken  the  Bible  out  of  the  hands  of  Hugh  Pe- 
ters, Oliver  Cromwell,  lord  George  Gordon,  and  their  respective 
crews,  if  this  had  been  in  his  power :  I  will  affirm  the  same, 
with  respect  to  count  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  the  founder  of  the 
modern  sect  of  Jerusalemites,  who  taught,  that  no  one  had  un- 
derstood the  Scriptures,  till  the  sense  of  them  was  revealed  to 
him;  as  also  with  respect  to  Joanna  Southcote, foundress  of  a 
still  more  modern  sect,  and  who,  I  believe,  tormented  the  bishop 
himself  with  her  rhapsodies,  in  order  to  persuade  him,  that  she 
was  the  woman  of  Genesis,  destined  to  crush  the  serpenVs  head, 
and  the  woman  of  the  Revelations,  clothed  with  the  »un,  an df 
crowned  with  twelve  stars.  Nay,  I  greatly  deceive  myself  if  the 
prelate  would  not  be  glad  to  take  awny  every  hot-brained  Dis- 
senter's Bible,  who  employs  it  in  persuading  the  people,  that 
the  church  of  England  is  a  rag  of  Popery,  and  a  spawn  of  the 
whore  of  Babylon.  In  short,  whatever  Dr.  Porteus  may 
choose  to  say  of  an  unrestricted  perusal  and  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures,  with  respect  to  all  sorts  of  persons,  it  is  certain,  that 
many  of  the  wisest  and  most  learned  divines  of  his  church  hav« 
lamented  this,  as  one  of  her  greatest  misfortunes.  I  will  quote 
the  words  of  one  of  them  :  "  Aristarchus,  of  old,  could  hardly 
find  seven  wise  men  in  all  Greece :  but,  amongst  us,  it  is  difll- 
cult  to  find  the  same  number  of  ignorant  persons.  They  are 
all  doctors  and  divinely  inspired.  There  is  not  a  fanatic  or  a 
mountebank,  from  the  lowest  class  of  the  people,  who  does  not 
vent  his  dreams  for  the  word  of  God.  The  bottomless  pit 
seems  to  be  opened,  and  there  come  out  of  it  locusts  with 
stings ;  a  swarm  of  sectaries  and  heretics,  who  have  renewed 

*  St,  Jerom  in  Proem  Ezech.     St.  Greg.  Naz.  dc  Modertnd  Dihu 

'2P 


! 


9^ 


'^^Mer  XLVIL 


vU  the  heresies  of  former  ages,  and  added  to  them  numerous 
and  monstrous  errors  of  their  own.* 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  Bibliomania^  or  rage  for 
the  letter  of  the  Bible,  has  been  carried,  in  this  country,  to  the 
utmost  possible  length,  by  persons  of  almost  every  description. 
Christians  and  Infidels ;  Trinitarians,  who  worship  God  in 
three  persons,  and  Unitarians,  who  hold  such  worship  to  be 
idolatrous ;  Psedobaptists  who  believe  they  became  Christians 
by  baptism ;  Anabaptists,  who  piunge  such  Christians  into  the 
water,  as  mere  Pagans ;  and  Quakers,  who  ridicule  all  bap- 
tism, except  that  of  their  own  imagination ;  Arminian  Metho- 
dists, who  believe  themselves  to  have  been  justified  without  re- 
pentance, and  Antinomian  Methodists,  who  maintain,  that  they 
shall  be  saved  without  keeping  the  laws  either  of  God  or  man  , 
Churchmen,  who  glory  in  having  preserved  the  whole  orders 
and  part  of  the  missal  and  ritual  of  the  Catholics ;  and  the 
countless  sects  of  Dissenters,  who  join  in  condemning  these 
things  as  Antichristian  Popery :  all  these  have  forgotten,  for  a 
time,  their  characteristical  tenets,  and  united  in  enforcing  the 
reading  of  the  Bibhj  as  the  only  thing  necessary  !  The  Bible 
Societies  are  content,  that  all  these  contending  religionists 
should  aflix  whatever  meaning  they  please  to  the  Bible,  pro- 
vided only  they  read  the  text  of  the  Bible !  Nay,  they  are 
satisfied  if  they  can  but  get  the  Hindoo  worshippers  of  Jugger- 
naut, the  Thibet  adorers  of  the  Grand  Lama,  and  the  Taboo 
cannibals  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  do  the  same  thing,  vainly 
fancying,  that  this  lecture  will  reform  the  vicious,  reclaim  the 
erroneous,  and  convert  the  Pagans.  In  the  mean  time,  the  ex- 
perience of  fourteen  years  proves,  that  ilieft,  forgery,  robbery, 
murder,  suicide,  and  other  crimes  go  on  increasing  with  the 
most  alarming  rapidity ;  that  every  sect  cljngs  to  its  original 
errors,  that  not  one  Pagan  is  converted  to  Christianity,  nor  one 
Irish  Catholic  persuaded  to  exchange  his  faith  for  a  Bible 
Book.  When  will  these  Bible  enthusiasts  comprehend,  what 
learned  and  wise  Christians  of  every  age  iiave  known  and 
taught,  that  the  word  of  God  consists  not  in  the  letter  of  Scrip- 
iure^  but  in  the  meaning  of  it !  Hence  it  follows,  that  a  Ca- 
tholic child,  who  is  grounded  in  his  short  but  comprehensive 
First  Catechiim,  so  called,  knows  more  of  the  revealed  word  of 
God,  than  a  Methodist  preacher  does,  who  has  read  the  whole 
Bible  ten  times  over.  The  sentiment  expressed  above  is  not  only 
that  of  St.  Jeromf  and  other  Catholic  writers,  but  also  of  the 

<{  ><!  ♦  Walton**  Poljrglot  Prolpfom.  t  Cap.  1  ad  Uakt 


LeUer  XLVIIL 


399 


n  humeroua 

3r  rage  for 
ntry,  to  the 
description, 
ip  God  in 
rship  to  be 

Christians 
ns  into  the 
ie  all  bap- 
ian  Metho- 
ivithout  re- 
,  that  they 
d  or  man , 
lole  orders 
i;  and  the 
ning  these 
>tten,  for  a 
brcing  the 
The  Bible 
eligionists 
'ible,  pro- 
,  they  are 
of  Jugger- 
the  Taboo 
ng,  vainly 
eel  aim  the 
ne,  theex- 
,  robbery, 
I  with  the 
Is  original 
y^  nor  one 
*  a  Kible 
end,  what 
lown  and 

of  Scrip' 
hat  a  Ca- 
)rehensive 
d  word  of 
the  whole 
s  not  only 
ho  of  the 


lebrned  Protestant  bishop,  whom  I  have  already  quoted.  Hd 
iiays,  **  The  word  of  God  does  not  consist  in  mere  letters,  but 
in  tlie  sense  of  it,  which  no  one  can  better  interpret  than  the 
true  churchi  to  which  Christ  committed  this  sacred  deposited'* 

uH«,faK  ■iii^vi  \nH  I  ^■^ll\•A\li  ri-Mvi-.i .  .1.::- 1, >-!-,!    lam)  &c* 


-.)t      UU'l'l  "■;    M-'MiP     I   Hi'     7MiJ     mm}      \i'.    I-.' 

-111*     M;l>i!'    •■■1    •»;!; 


,:.'.      Mi    J.    M. 

t  l(>  V,      'J    'ill     lit  IO({ 


;rNf- 


M      i 


»  ;))■• 


,iJ    <M 


■r 


LETTER  XLVIIL 


lir* 


'  !■>' 


,'f.< 


To  JAMES  BROWJS',  Jun.  Esq. 


ni 


OJf  VJSR  TO  US  MISREPRESEXTJlTIOJfB.       ' '  « 5  \  M '  ' 


!  ;.    fDU 


Dear  Sir, 
The  learned  prelate,  who  is  celebrated  for  having  concen- 
trated the  five  sermons  of  his  patron,  archbishop  Seeker,  and 
the  more  diAusive  declamation  of  primate  Tillotson  against 
Popery  ;  having  gone  through  his  regular  charges  on  this  to- 
pic, tries,  in  the  end,  to  overwhelm  the  Catholic  cause,  with  an 
accumulation  of  petty,  or,  at  least,  secondary  objections,  in  a 
chapter  which  he  entitles :  various  corruptions  and  superstitions 
of  ike  church  of  Rome.  The  first  of  these  is,  that  Catholics 
"  equal  the  apocryphal  with  the  canonical  books"  of  Scrip- 
ture :f  to  which  I  answer,  that  the  same  authority,  namely,  the 
authority  of  the  Catholic  church,  in  the  fifth  century,  which 
decided  on  the  canonical  character  of  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, the  Revelations,  and  five  other  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, on  the  character  of  which  till  that  time,  the  Fathers  and 
ecclesiastical  writers  were  not  agreed,  decided  also  on  the  can- 
nonicity  of  the  Books  of  Toby,  Judith,  and  five  other  books  uf 
the  Old  Testament,  being  those  which  the  prelate  alludes  to  as 
apocryphal.  If  the  church  of  the  fifth  century  deserves  to  be 
heard  in  one  part  of  her  testimony,  she  evidently  deserves  to 
be  heard  in  the  other  part. — His  second  objection  is,  that  "  The 
Romish  church,"  as  he  calls  the  Catkolic  churchy  has  made  "  a 
modern  addition  of  five  new  sacraments,  to  the  two  appointed 
by  Christ ;  making  also  the  priest's  intention  necessary  to  the 


ii 


Walton's  Prolef. 


t  P.  70 


300 


Letter  XLVUL 


benefit  of  them."  t  have,  in  the  course  of  these  letters,  vindi- 
cated the  divine  institution  of  these  five  sacraments,  and  have 
shown,  that  they  are  acknowledged  to  be  sacraments  no  less 
than  the  other  two,  by  the  Nestorian  and  Eutychian  heretics, 
&c.  who  separated  from  the  church  almost  1400  years  ago,  and 
in  short,  by  all  the  Christian  congregations  of  the  world,  except 
a  comparatively  few  modern  ones,  called  Protestants,  in  the 
north  of  Europe.  Is  it  from  ignorance,  or  wilful  misrepresen- 
tation, that  the  bishop  of  London  charges  "  the  Romish  church 
with  the  modem  addition  of  five  new  sacraments  ?"  With  re- 
spect to  the  intention  of  the  minister  of  a  sacrament,  I  presume 
there  is  no  sensible  person  who  does  not  see  the  essential  dif- 
ference there  is  between  an  action  that  is  seriously  performedy 
and  the  mimicking  or  mockery  of  it  by  a  comedian  or  bufibon. 
Luther,  indeed,  wrote,  that  "  the  Devil  himself  would  perform 
a  true  sacrament,  if  he  used  the  right  matter  and  form  :"  but  I 
trust,  that  you,  sir,  and  my  other  friends,  will  not  subscribe  to 
such  an  extravagance.  I  have  also  discussed  the  subjects  of 
relics  and  miracles,  which  the  prelate  next  brings  forward ;  so 
that  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  say  any  thing  more  about 
them,  than  that  the  church,  instead  of  "  venerating  fictitious 
relics,  and  inventing  lying  miracles,"  as  he  most  calumniouhly 
accuses  her  of  doing,  is  strict  to  an  excess,  in  examining  the 
proofs  of  thtm  both,  as  he  would  learn,  if  he  took  pains  to  in- 
quire. In  short,  there  are  but  about  two  or  three  articles  in  his 
lordship's  accumulated  charges  against  his  mother  churchy  w'lich 
seem  to  require  a  particular  answer  from  me  at  present.  One 
of  these  is  the  following:  *'  Of  the  same  bad  tendency  is  their 
(the  Catholics)  engaging  such  multitudes  of  people  in  vows  of 
celibacy  and  useless  retirement  from  the  world,  their  obliging 
them  to  silly  austerities  and  abstinences,  of  no  real  value,  as 
matters  of  great  merit."'"'  In  the  first  place,  /i.e  church 
never  engages  any  person  whomsoever  in  a  vow  o.f  celibacy  ;  on 
the  contrary,  she  exerts  her  utmost  power  and  severest  censures, 
to  prevent  this  obligation  from  being  contracted  rashly^  or  un- 
der any  undue  influence.^  True  it  is,  she  teaches,  that  conti- 
nency  is  a  state  of  greater  perfection  than  matrimony ;  but  so 
does  St.  Paul  |  and  Christ  himself,^  in  words  too  explicit  and 
forcible  to  admit  of  controversy  on  the  part  of  any  sincere 
Christian.  True  it  is,  also,  that  having  the  choice  of  her  sacred 
■lioisters,  she  selects  those  for  the  service  of  her  altar,  and  fur 


•  P.  70.  t  Concil  Trid.  Seis.  xxv.  Pe  Reg.  ^np.  15, 18, 17,  IR 

.   8«e  the  whole  chapter  vii.  of  I  Cor.  ^  Mat.  xix.  IS. 


Litter  XLVUL 


301 


tters,  vindi- 
and  have 
ints  no  Jess 
m  heretics, 
rs  ago,  and 
►rid,  except 
iits,  in  the 
isrepresen- 
nish  church 
With  re- 
I  presume 
>ential  dif- 
performed^ 
)r  buffoon, 
d  perform 
m :"  but  I 
bscribe  to 
subjects  of 
rward ;  so 
ore  about 
;  fictitious 
umniousiy 
nining  the 
ains  to  in- 
icles  in  his 
rchf  H  !iich 
ent.     One 
cy  is  their 
in  vows  of 
r  obliging 
value,  as 
e    ciiurch 
ibacyj  on 
:  censures, 
ly,  or  un- 
bat  conti* 
y ;  but  so 
plicit  and 
y  sincere 
ler  sacred 
r,  and  fur 

18. 


Bisisting  the  faithful  in  their  spiritual  wants,  who  voluntarily 
embrace  this  more  perfect  state  :*  but  so  has  the  Establishment 
expressed  her  wish  to  do  also,  in  that  very  act  which  allows  her 
clergy  to  marry.f  In  like  manner,  I  need  go  no  further  than 
the  homily  on  fasting,  or  the  *'  table  of  Vigils,  fasts,  and  days 
of  abstinence,  to  be  observed  in  the  year,"  prefixed  to  The 
Common  Prayer  Book,  to  justify  our  doctrine  and  practice, 
which  the  bishop  finds  fault  with,  in  the  eyes  of  every  consistent 
Church-Protestant.  I  believe  the  most  severe  austerities  of  our 
saints  never  surpassed  those  of  Christ's  precursor,  whom  he  so 
much  commended,!  clothed  as  he  was  with  hair-cloth,  and  fed 
with  the  locusts  of  the  desert. 

In  a  former  letter  to  your  society,  I  have  replied  to  what  the^ 
bishop  here  says  concerning  the  deposing  of  kings  by  the  Ro- 
man pontiff,  and  have  established  facts  by  which  it  appears, 
that  more  princes  were  actually  dispossessed  of  the  whole,  or  a 
large  part,  of  their  dominions,  by  the  pretended  gospel-liberty 
of  the  Reformation,  within  the  first  fifty  years  of  this  being  pro- 
claimed, than  the  Popes  had  attempted  to  depose  during  the 
preceding  fifteen  hundred  years  of  their  supremacy.  To  this 
accusation  another  of  a  more  alarming  nature  is  tacked,  that  of 
our  "  annulling  the  most  sacred  promises  and  engagements, 
when  made  to  the  prejudice  of  the  church."^  These  are  other 
words  for  the  vile  hackneyed  calumny  of  our  not  keeping  faith 
with  heretics.\^  In  refutation  of  this,  I  might  appeal  to  the  doc- 
trine of  our  Theologians,ir  and  to  the  oaths  of  the  British  Ca- 
tholics ;  but  I  choose  rather  to  appeal  to  historical  facts,  and  to 
the  practical  lessons  of  the  leading  men  by  whom  these  have 
been  conducted.     I  have  mentioned,  that  «vhen  the  Catholic 

3ueen  Mary  came  to  the  throne,  a  Protestant  usurper,  lady 
ane,  was  set  up  against  her,  and  that  the  bishops  Cranmer, 

*  The  second  Council  of  Carthage,  can.  3,  and  St  Epiphanius  Har.  48,  59, 
trace  tho  discipline  of  sacerdotal  continence  up  to  the  Apostles. 

t  "  Althougn  it  were  not  only  better  for  the  estimation  of  priests  and  other  min» 
istcrs,  to  lire  cliaste,  sole,  and  separated  from  women,  and  tiie  bond  of  marriage, 
but  also  they  might  thereby  the  better  attend  to  the  administration  of  the  Gospel ; 
and  it  were  to  he  wished  that  they  would  willingly  endeavour  themselves  to  a  life 
of  chastity,  &c."  2  Edw.  vi.  c.  21.  See  the  injunction  of  queen  Elizabeth  against 
the  admission  of  women  into  colleges,  cathedrals,  &c.  in  Strype's  Life  of  Parker. 
See  likewise  a  remarkable  instance  of  her  rudeness  to  that  archbishop's  wife. 
Jbld.  and  in  Nichol's  Progresses,  A.  D.  1561.        X  Mat  xi.  9.  ^  P.  71. 

H  In  the  Protestant  Charter-school  Catechism,  which  is  taught  by  authority,  the 
fullfiwing  question  and  answer  occur  p.  U.  "  Q.  How  do  Papists  treat  those 
whom  they  call  heretics  l—K.  They  hold  that  faith  is  not  to  be  kept  with  horclics, 
and  that  the  Pope  can  absolve  subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance  to  thrir  Sove- 
reigns." 

iD  See  in  particular  the  Jesuit  Becanus  Dt  Fide  Haaretkif  Jtrtttandt' 


302 


UUer  XLVIU. 


Ridley,  Latimer,  Hooper,  Rogers,  Poynet,  Sandys,  and  every 
other  Protestant  of  any  note,  broke  their  allegiance  and  en- 
gagements to  her,  for  no  other  reason  than  because  she  was  a 
Catholic,  and  the  usurper  a  Protestant.     On  the  other  hand, 
when  Mary  was  succeeded  by  her  Protestant  sister,  Elizabeth, 
though  the  Catholics  were  then  far  more  numerous  and  power- 
ful than  the  Protestants,  not  a  hand  was  raised,  nor  a  seditious 
sermon  preached  against  her.     In  the  mean  time,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Tweed,  where  the  new  Gospellers  had  deposed  their 
sovereign,  and  usurped  her  power,  their  apostle  Knox  publicly 
preached,  that  "  neither  promise  nor  oath  can  oblige  any  man 
to  obey  or  give  assistance  to  tyrants  against  God  ;"*  to  which 
lesson  his  colleague,  Goodman,  added :  ^'  If  governors  fall  from 
God,  to  the  gallows  with  them."f     A  third  fellow-labourer  in 
tiie  same  Gospel  cause,  Buchanan,  maintained,  that  "  princes 
may  be  deposed  by  their  people,  if  they  be  tyrants  against  God 
and  his  truth,  and  that  their  subjects  are  free  from  their  oaths 
and  obedience."!     The  same,  in  substance,  were  the  maxims 
of  Calvin,  Beza,  and  the  Huguenots  of  France,  in  general :  the 
temporal  interest  of  their  religion  was  the  ruling  principle  of 
their  morality.     But,  to  return  to  our  own  country :  the  ene- 
mies of  church  and  state  having  hunted  down  the  earl  of  Straf- 
ford, and  procured  him  to  be  attainted  of  high  treason,  the 
king,  Charles  I,  declared  that  he  could  not,  in  conscience^  concur 
to  hit  deathj  when  the  case  being  referred  to  the  archbishops. 
Usher  and  Williams,  and  three  other  Anglican  bishops,  they 
decided  (in  spite  of  his  majesty's  conscience,  and  his  oath  to 
administer  justice  in  mercy)  that  he  might,  in  conscienccj  send 
this  innocent  peer  to  the  block,  which  he  did  accordingly.'^     I 
should  like  to  ask  bishop  Porteus,  whether  this  decision  of  his 
predecessors  was  not  the  dispensation  of  an  oath,  and  the  an- 
nulling of  the  most  sacred  of  all  obligations?     In  like  manner, 
most  of  the  leading  men  of  the  nation,  with  most  of  the  clergy, 
having  sworn  to  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant y  "  for  the 


*  In  his  book  addressed  to  the  nobles  and  people  of  Scotland.  -t    ' 

t  De  Obedient.  -  ' 

t  History  of  Scotland.-— The  same  was  the  express  doctrine  of  the  Geneva  Bi- 
ble, translated  by  Coverdale,  Goodman,  &c.  in  that  city,  and  in  common  use 
among  the  English  Protestants,  till  king  James's  reign :  for  in  a  note  on  verse  13 
of  2d  Mat.  these  translators  expressly  say,  "  A  promise  ought  not  to  be  kept, 
•where  God's  honour  and  preaching  of  his  truth  is  injured."  Hist.  Account  of  Eiig. 
Translations,  by  A.  Johnson,  in  Watson's  Collrct.  vol.  iii.  p.  93. 

*)  Collier's  Church  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  801.— On  the  other  hand,  when  several  of 
the  ParliBmcnt's  soldiers,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  at  Brentford,  had  sworn 
never  aRain  to  bear  arms  against  the  king,  they  were  "  absolved  from  that  oalh," 
fea;(a  Clurcndun. "  by  their  divines."   Cxum.  of  Meal's  Uist.  by  Urcy,vuL  iii.  p.  tO. 


Lttter  XLVni, 


303 


<uid  every 
:e  and  en- 
she  wag  a 
ther  hand, 
Elizabeth, 
nd  power- 
n  seditious 

1  the  other 
>osed  their 

pubJicJy 

2  any  man 
to  Hliich 

s  fall  from 
ibourer  in 
"  princes 
gainst  God 
heir  oaths 
le  maxims 
neral :  the 
^inciple  of 
:  the  ene- 
of  Straf- 
sason,  the 
ce,  concur 
hbishops, 
ops,  they 
is  oath  to 
wee,  send 

»giy4   I 

on  of  his 
J  the  an- 
manner, 
B  clergy, 
'  for  the 


:(! 


Scneva  Bi- 
ll mon  use 
n  verse  IS 
I  be  kept, 
ntofEng. 

several  of 

lad  sworn 

hut  oalh," 

ui.p.  10. 


liibfe  efiectual  extirpation  of  Popery,"  they  wero  dispensed  with 
from  the  keeping  of  it,  by  an  express  clause  in  the  act  of  uni- 
formity.* But  whereas,  by  a  clause  of  the  oath  in  the  same 
act,  all  subjects  of  the  realm,  down  to  constables  and  school- 
masters, were  obliged  to  swear,  that  "  It  is  not  lawful,  upon 
any  pretence  vahatsoever,  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king ;" 
this  oath,  in  its  turn,  was  universally  dispensed  with,  in  the 
churches  and  in  parliament,  at  the  Revohition.  I  have  men- 
tioned these  kyv  facts  and  maxims  concerning  Protestant  dis- 
pensations of  oaths  and  engagements,  in  case  any  of  your  so- 
ciety may  object,  that  some  Popes  have  been  too  free  in  pro- 
nouncing such  dispensations.  Should  this  have  been  the  case, 
they  alone,  personally,  and  not  the  Catholic  church,  were  ac- 
countable for  it,  both  to  God  and  man. 

I  have  often  wondered,  in  a  particular  manner,  at  the  confi- 
dence with  which  bishop  Porteus  asserts  and  denies  facts  of  an- 
cient Church  History,  in  opposition  to  the  known  truth.  An 
instance  of  this  occurs  in  the  conclusion  of  the  chapter  before 
me,  where  he  says :  "  The  primitive  church  did  not  attempt, 
for  several  hundreds  of  years,  to  make  any  doctrine  necessary, 
which  we  do  not :  as  the  learned  well  know  from  their  writ- 
ings."f  The  falsehood  of  this  position  must  strike  you,  on 
looking  back  to  the  authorities  adduced  by  me  from  the  an- 
cient fathers  and  historians,  in  proof  of  the  several  points  of 
controversy  which  I  have  maintained :  but,  to  render  it  still 
more  glaring,  I  will  recur  to  the  histories  of  AERIUS  and 
VIGILANTIUS,  two  different  heretics  of  the  fourth  century. 
Both  St.  Epiphanius,!  and  St.  Austin,^^  rank  Aerius  among 
the  heresiarchs,  or  founders  of  heresy,  and  both  give  exactly 
the  same  account  of  his  three  characteristical  errors ;  the  first 
of  which  is  avowed  by  all  Protestants,  namely,  that  "  prayers 
and  sacrifices  are  not  to  be  offered  up  for  the  dead,"  and  the 
two  others  by  most  of  them,  namely,  that  "  there  is  no  obliga- 
tion of  observing  the  appointed  days  of  fasting,  and  that 
priests  ought  not  to  be  distinguished,  in  any  respect,  from  bi- 
shops." ||  So  far  were  the  primitive  Christians  from  tolerating 
these  heresies,  that  its  supporters  were  denied  the  use  of  a  place 
of  worship,  and  were  forced  to  perform  it  in  forests  and  ca- 
verns.ir  Vigilantius  likewise  condemned  prayers  for  the  dead, 
but  he  equally  reprobated  prayers  to  the  saints,  the  honouring 

♦  statute  13  and  14  Car.  II,  cap.  4.  t  P.  73.  X  Hajresif  'G- 

^  Dc  Hacrcs.  lom.  vi.  Ed.  Frob. 

n  Ibid.  St  John  Damascen  and  St.  Isidore  oqimlly  condemn  these  tcucts  as 
bciclical         _  H  Flcury's  llisl.  ad  Au.  392. 


304 


TMter  XLVIU. 


of  their  relics,  and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  together  with  vows 
of  continence  in  general.     Against  these  errors,  which  I  need 
not  tell  you  Dr.  Porteus  now  patronises,  as  Vigilantius  former- 
ly did,  St.  Jerom  directs  all  the  thunder  of  his  eloquence,  de- 
claring them  to  be  sacrilegious ^  and  the  author  of  them  to  be  a 
detestable  heretic,*    The  learned  Fleury  observes,  that  the  im- 
pious novelties  of  this  heretic  made  no  proselytes,  and  therefore, 
that  there  was  no  need  of  a  council  to  condemn  them.f     Fi- 
nally, to  convince  yourself,  dear  sir,  how  far  the  ancient  fathers 
were  from  tolerating  different  communions  or  religious  tenets 
in  the  Catholic  church,  conformably  to  the  prelate's  monstrous 
system,  of  a  Catholic  church,  composed  of  all  the  discordant 
and  disunited  sects  in  Christendom,  be  pleased  to  consult  again 
the  passages  which  I  have  collected  from  the  works  of  the 
former,  in  my  fourteenth  letter  to  your  society ;  or,  what  is  still 
more  demonstrative,  on  this  point,  observe,  in  ecclesiastical 
history,  how  the  Quartodecimans,  the  Novatians,|  the  Dona- 
tists,  and  the  Luciferians,  though  their  respective  errors  are 
mere  molehills,  compared  with  the  mountains,  which  separate 
the  Protestant  communions  from  ours,  were  held  forth  as  here- 
tics by  the  fathers,  and  treated  as  such  by  the  church,  in  her 
councils.  ...  ,,.  ,,.,:.,  ,,.,    ,-,.„.   ,..^,,.  ;,..  ,.  ,■     ,,    „. 


f'f 


.  ( 


*  EpisL  1  and  8,  advenus  Vigilan.  t  Ad  An.  405. 

}  St  Cyprian  being  consulted  about  the  nature  of  Novatian's  errors,  antnrers : 
"  there  is  no  need  of  a  strict  inc^uiry  what  errors  he  teaches  while  he  teaches  out  vf 
lAe  cAurcA.**  He  elsewhere  writes:  "  The  church  being  one,  cannot  be,  at  the 
tame  time,  within  and  without.  If  she  be  with  Novatian,  she  is  not  with  (Pope) 
Cornelius ;  if  she  be  with  Cornelius,  Novatian  is  not  in  her."  Epist  76  ad  Mag. 


-i.ii  '  hs%- 


i,ri  '.:A. 


^  r    305     ] 


•  with  vows 
lich  I  need 
ills  Ibrmer- 
[uence,  de- 
em to  be  a 
lat  the  im- 
1  therefore, 
^In.f     Fi- 
ent  fathers 
ous  tenets 
monstrous 
discordant 
isult  again 
ks  of  the 
hat  is  stil] 
lesiastical 
:he  Dona- 
;rrors  are 
1  separate 
1  as  herc- 
ch, in  her 


r  TV  j'f 


J.  M. 


>s,  answers  t 
iaehet  out  ^ 
t  be,  at  the 
»yith  (Pope) 
>  ad  Mag. 


•|-?vt:>,  'ji,  Hi<*««j^Hii»*^. i*j*kmi  ^nii  uu  \m\:-^\':>M% 


Hit 


ii^Miv 


if  J     :\^W 


'■)«:i>»'J  k!,f 


■':»■;■ 


a 


fib  .iti^V  i>p5i: 


,«M,{ 


LETTER  XLIX.  ^  '^  « 


11   V't'i 


v:J   5«. 


1*^^ 


it 


Ji 


To  JAMES  13H0WJV,  Jun,  Esq. 

.    OJV  RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTIOJ^. 


/    -HM 


i?(.J   ,<{- 


hs'f 


ar^;;*n. 


;  1  :*J  -;' 


II    .■.,)    '■■,! 


Dear  Sir, 

I  PROMISED  to  treat  the  subject  of  religious  persecution  apart, 
a  subject  of  the  utmost  import-ance  hi  itself,  and  which  is  spoken 
of  by  the  bishop  of  London  in  the  following  terms :  "  They,  the 
Romish  church,  zealously  maintain  their  claim  of  punishing 
whom  they  please  to  call  heretics,  with  penalties,  imprisonment, 
tortures,  death."*  Another  writer,  whom  I  have  quoted  abpve, 
says,  that  this  church  "  breathes  the  very  spirit  of  cruelty  and 
murder  ;"f  indeed  most  Protestant  controvertists  seem  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  the  vehemence  and  bitterness  of  the  terms 
by  which  they  endeavour  to  affix  this  most  odious  charge,  of 
cruelty  and  murder,  on  the  Catholic  church.  This  is  the  fa- 
vourite topic  of  preachers,  to  excite  the  hatred  of  their  hearers 
against  their  fellow  Christians :  this  is  the  last  resource  of  baf- 
fled oratorical  hypocrites  :  if  you  admit  the  Papists^  they  cry, 
to  equal  rights ,  thesn  wretches  must  and  will  certainly  murder 
yoUf  as  soon  as  they  can :  the  fourth  Lateran  council  has  esta- 
blished the  principle,  and  the  bloody  queen  Mary  has  acted  upon 
it  ...  .-•..■  -'.V    - 

I.  To  proceed  regularly  in  this  matter :  I  begin  with  ex- 
pressly denying  the  bishop  of  London's  charge ;  namely,  that 
the  Catholic  church  "  maintains  a  claim  of  punishing  heretics 
with  penalties,  iuiprisonment,  tortures,  and  deuih  ;"  and  I  assert, 
on  the  contrary,  that  she  disclaims  the  power  of  so  doing.  Pope 
Leo  the  Great,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth  century,  writing 
about  the  Manichean  heretics,  who,  as  he  asserted,  "  laid  all 
modesty  aside,  prohibiting  the  matrimonial  connexion,  and  sub- 
verting all  law,  human  and  divine,"  says,  that  "  the  ecclesiastical 
lenity  was  content,  even  in  this  case,  with  the  sacerdotal  judg- 
ment, and  avoided  all  sanguinary  punishments,"!  however  the 
fcecular  emperors  might  inflict  them  for  reasons  of  state.  In  the 
same  century,  two  Spanish  bishops,  Ithucius  and  Idacius,  having 


♦  P.  71. 

t  Epiiit.  ad  Turib. 


t  De  Coetlogon's  Seasonnble  Caution,  p.  IS. 


(K)6 


Letter  XLIX, 


interfered  in  the  capital  punishment  of  certain  Priscillian  here- 
tics, both  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Martin  refused  to  hold  commu- 
nion with  them,  even  to  gratify  an  emperor,  whose  clemency 
they  were  soliciting  in  behalf  of  certain  clients.  Long  before 
their  time,  Tertnllian  had  taught,  that  "  It  does  not  belong  to 
religion  to  force  religion  ;"*  and  a  considerable  time  after  it, 
when  St.  Austin  and  his  companions,  the  envoys  of  Pope  Gre- 
gory the  Great,  had  converted  our  king  Ethelbert,  to  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  they  particularly  inculcated  to  him,  not  to  use  forci- 
iile  means  to  induce  any  of  his  subjects  to  follow  his  example. f 
lint  what  need  of  more  authorities  on  this  head,  since  our  canon 
law,  as  it  stood  in  ancient  times,  and  as  it  still  stands,  renders 
all  those  who  have  actively  concurred  to  the  death  or  mutila- 
tion of  any  human  being,  whether  Catholic  or  heretic,  Jew  or 
Pagan,  even  in  a  just  war,  or  by  exercising  the  art  of  surgery, 
or  by  judicial  proceedings,  irregular^  that  is  to  say,  such  per- 
sons cannot  be  promoted  to  holy  orders,  oi  exercise  those 
orders,  if  they  have  actually  received  them.  Nay,  when  an 
ecclesiastical  judge  or  tribunal  has,  after  due  examination,  pro- 
nounced that  any  person,  accused  of  obstinate  heresy,  is  actually 
guilty  of  it,  he  is  required  by  the  church,  expressly,  to  declare 
in  her  name,  that  her  power  extends  no  further  than  such  de- 
cision ;  and,  in  case  the  obstinate  heretic  is  liable,  by  the  laws 
of  the  state,  to  suffer  death  or  mutiktJon,  he  is  required  to  pray 
for  his  pardon.  Even  the  council  Oi'  Constance,  in  condemn- 
ing John  Huss  of  heresy,  declared  that  its  power  extended  no 
further.  J 

II.  But,  whereas  many  heresies  are  subversive  of  the  esta- 
blished governments,  the  public  peace,  and  natural  morality,  it 
does  not  belong  to  the  church  to  prevent  princes  and  states 
from  exercising  their  just  authority  in  repressing  and  punishing 
them,  when  this  is  judged  to  be  the  case ;  nor  would  any  cler- 
gyman incur  irregularity  by  exhorting  princes  and  magistrates 
to  provide  for  those  important  objects,  and  the  safety  of  the 
church  itself,  by  repressing  its  disturbers,  provided  he  did  not 
concur  to  the  death  or  mutilation  of  any  particular  disturber. 
Thus  it  appears,  that  though  there  have  been  persecuting  laws 
in  many  Catholic  states,  the  church  itself,  so  far  from  claiming^ 
actually  disclaims  the  power  of  persecuting. 

III.  But  Dr.  Porteus  signifies,'^  that  the  church  itself  has 
claimed  this  power  in  the  tliird  canon  of  the  fourth  Lateran 


♦  Ad  Scapul.  t  Rod.  T.cc.  Hist.  1.  i.  c.  26.        * 

t  Seas.  XV.    Sec  Labbe's  Concil.  t.  xii.  p.  129.  ^  P.  47. 


Letter  XLtX. 


30^ 


Ilian  here- 
d  commu- 
clemency 
ng  before 
belong  to 
>e  after  it, 
ope  Gre- 
the  Chris- 
use  forci- 
Jxample.f 
aur  canon 
renders 
r  mutila- 
c,  Jew  or 
surgery, 
such  per- 
ise  those 
when  an 
tion,  pro- 
5  actually 
o  declare 
such  de- 
the  laws 
d  to  pray 
:ondemn- 
ended  no 

the  esta- 
>rality,  it 
nd  states 
unishing 
iny  cler- 
gistrates 
y  of  the 
'  did  not 
isturber. 
ing  laws 
laimingf 

self  has 
Lateral) 


council,  A.  D.  1215,  bythe  tenour  of  which,  tempor..  iords  air* 
magistrates  were  required  to  exterminate  all  heretics  from  their 
respective  territories,  under  pain  of  these  being  confiscated  to 
their  sovereign  prince,  if  they  were  laymen,  and  to  their  several 
churches,  in  case  they  were  clergymen.  From  this  canon,  it 
has  been,  a  hundred  times  over,  argued  against  Catholics,  of 
late  years,  not  only  that  their  church  claims  a  right  to  exter- 
minate heretics,  but  also  requires  those  of  her  communion  to 
aid  and  assist  in  this  work  of  destruction,  at  all  times,  and  in  all 
places.  But  it  must  first  be  observed,  tcho  were  present  at  this 
council,  and  by  whose  authority  these  decrees,  of  a  temporal 
nature,  were  passed.  There  were  then  present,  besides  the 
Pope  and  the  bishops,  either  in  person  or  by  their  ambassadors, 
the  Greek  and  the  Latin  emperors;  the  kings  of  England, 
France,  Hungary,  the  Sicilies,  Arragon,  Cyprus,  and  Jerusa- 
lem ;  and  the  representatives  of  a  vast  many  other  principalities 
and  states;  so  that,  in  fact,  this  council  was  a  congress  of 
Christendom,  temporal,  as  well  as  spiritual.  We  must,  in  the 
next  place,  remark  the  principal  business,  which  drew  them  to- 
gether. It  was  the  common  cause  of  Christianity  and  human 
nature;  namely,  the  extirpation  of  the  Manichean  heresy, 
which  taught, -that  there  were  two  first  principles,  or  Deities; 
one  of  them  the  creator  of  devils,  of  animal  flesh,  of  wine,  of  the 
Old  Testament,  he. ;  the  other,  the  author  of  good  spirits,  of 
the  New  Testament,  &,c. ;  that  unnatural  lusts  were  lawful,  but 
not  the  propagation  of  the  human  species;  that  perjury  was 
permitted  to  tliem,  &;c.*  This  detestable  heresy,  which  had 
caused  so  much  wickedness  and  bloodshed  in  the  preceding 
centuries,  broke  out  with  fresh  fury,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
throughout  difl'erent  parts  of  Europe,  more  particularly  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Albi,  in  Lnnguedoc,  were  they  were  support- 
ed by  the  powerful  counts  of  Tholouse,  Comminges,  Foix,  and 
other  feudatory  princes ;  as  also  by  numerous  bodies  of  ban- 
ditti, called  Rotarii,  whom  they  hired  for  this  purpose.  Thus 
strengthened,  they  set  their  sovereigns  at  defiance,  carrying  fire 
and  sword  through  their  dominions,  murdering  their  subjects, 
particularly  the  clergy,  burning  the  churches  and  monasteries, 
and,  in  short,  waging  open  war  with  them,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  with  Christianity,  morality,  and  human  nature  itself; 
casting  the  Bibles  into  the  jakes,  profaning  the  altar-plate,  and 


*  See  the  Protestant  historian  Mosheim's  account  of  the  the  shocking  vidadon 
of  decency  and  other  crimes  of  which  the  Aibigenses,  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit, 
lie.  were  guiltv  in  the  13th  century.    Vol.  iii.  p.  284. 

29*  


806 


Letter  XUX, 


practising  their  detestable  rites  for  tlie  extinction  of  the  human 
species.  It  was  to  put  an  end  to  these  horrors,  tliat  the  great 
Lateran  council  was  held,  in  the  year  1215,  when  the  heresy  itself 
was  condemned  by  the  proper  authority  of  the  church,  and  the 
lands  of  the  feudatory  lords,  who  protected  it,  were  declared  to 
be  forfeited  to  the  sovereign  princes,  of  whom  they  were  held, 
by  an  authority  derived  from  those  sovereign  princes.  The 
decree  of  the  council  regarded  only  the  prevailing  heretics  oj 
that  time^  who,  though  "  wearing  diflerent  faces,"  being  indif- 
ferently called  Albigenses,  Catliari,  Popllcolfe  Paterlni,  Bul- 
gari,  Bacomilii,  Beguini,  Beguardi,  and  Brethrew  of  the  Free 
Spirit,  &c.  were  "  all  tied  together  by  the  tails,"  as  their  coun- 
cil expresses  it,  like  Sampson's  foxes,  in  the  same  band  of 
Manicheism.*  Nor  was  this  exterminating  canon  ever  put  in 
force  against  any  other  heretics  except  the  Albigenses,  nor 
even  against  them,  except  in  the  case  of  the  above  named 
counts ;  it  was  never  so  much  as  published,  or  talked  of,  in 
these  islands :  so  little  have  Protestants  to  fear  from  their  Ca- 
tholic fellow-subjects,  by  reason  of  the  third  canon  of  the  coun- 
cil of  Lateran. f  ,;  ;     5   /   ;1 

IV.  But  they  are  chiefly  the  Smithfield  fires  of  queen  Mary's 
reign,  which  furnish  matter  for  the  inexhaustible  declamation 
of  Protestant  controvertists,  and  the  unconquerable  prejudices 
of  the  Protestant  populace  against  the  Catholic  religion,  as 
"  breathing  the  very  spirit  of  cruelty  and  murder,"  according 
to  the  expression  of  the  above  quoted  orators.  Nevertheless, 
I  have  unanswerably  demonstrated  elsewhere,  J  that,  "  if  queen 
Mary  was  a  persecutor,  it  was  not  in  virtue  of  the  tenets  of  her 
religion  that  she  persecuted."  I  observed,  that  during  almost 
two  years  of  her  reign,  no  Protestant  was  molested  on  account 
of  his  religion ;  that  in  the  instructions,  which  the  Pope  sent 
her  for  her  conduct  on  the  throne,  there  is  not  a  word  to  re- 
commend persecution ;  nor  is  there  one  word  in  the  synod, 
which  the  Pope's  legate.  Cardinal  Pole,  held  at  that  time,  as 
Burnet  remarks,  in  favour  of  persecution,  This  representative 
of  his  holiness  even  opposed  the  persecution  project,  with  all 

*  For  a  succinct,  yet  clear  account  of  Manicheism,  see  Bossuet's  Variations, 
Book  xi ;  also,  for  many  additional  circumstances  relating  to  it,  see  Letters  to  a 
Prebendary,  Letter  IV. 

t  For  an  account  of  the  rebellions  and  antisocial  doctrine  and  practices  of  the 
Wickliffites  and  Hussites,  see  the  last  qtioted  work.  Letter  IV ;  also  History  of 
Winchester,  vol.  i.  p.  296. 

X  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  liOtter  TV,  on  persecution ;  also  History  of  Win 
Chester,  vol.  i.  p.  354,  &c.     See  in  the  former,  p.  149,  &c.  proofs  of  the  infidelity 
of  the  famous  martyrolog:ist,  John  Fox,  and  of  the  great  abatemnats  which  ar«  to. 
be  made  in  his  account  of  the  Protestant  gufferer*'  -.i  ;.:.  , 


Letter  XLIX. 


309 


Ef  Iiiiman 
le  great 
esy  itself 

and  the 
;lared  to 
re  held, 
s.  The 
retics  oj 
ig  indif- 
ni,  Bul- 
he  Free 
ir  coun- 
3and  nf 
r  put  in 
ses,  nor 

named 

of,  in 

leir  Ca- 

e  coun- 

Mary's 
imation 
?judices 
fion,  as 
cording 
'theless, 
f  queen 
5  of  her 

almost 
account 
pe  sent 
1  to  re- 
synod, 
imo,  as 
ntatlve 
ith  all 

iriations, 
ters  to  a 

!S  of  the 
story  of 

)f  Win 
ti  fidelity 
[i  ar«  to 


his  influence,  as  did  king  Philip's  chaplain  also,  who  even 
preached  against  it,  and  defied  the  advocates  of  it  to  produce 
an  authority  from  Scripture  in  its  favour.  In  a  word,  we  have 
the  arguments  made  use  of  in  the  queen's  council,  by  those  ad- 
vocates for  persecution,  Gardiner,  Bonner,  &ic.  by  whose  ad- 
vice it  was  adopted  ;  yet  none  of  them  pretended,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Catholic  church  required  such  a  measure.  On  the 
contrary,  all  their  arguments  are  grounded  on  motives  of  state 
policy.  Indeed,  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  first  Protestants, 
in  this,  as  in  other  countries,  were  possessed  of,  and  actuated 
by  a  spirit  of  violence  and  rebellion.  Lady  Jane  was  set  up 
and  supported  in  opposition  to  the  daughters  of  king  Henry,  by 
all  the  chief  men  of  the  party,  both  churchmen  and  laymen,  as 
I  have  observed.  Mary  had  hardly  forgiven  this  rebellion, 
when  a  fresh  one  was  raised  against  her,  by  the  duke  of  Suffolk, 
sir  Thomas  Wyat,  and  all  the  leading  Protestants.  In  the 
mean  time,  her  life  was  attempted  by  some  of  them,  and  her 
death  was  publicly  prayed  for  by  others ;  while  Knox  and 
Goodman,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tweed,  were  publishing 
books  Against  the  Monstrous  regiment  of  Women^  and  exciting 
the  people  of  this  country,  as  well  as  their  own,  to  put  their 
Jezabel  to  death.  Still,  I  grant,  persecution  was  not  the  way 
to  diminish  the  number  or  the  violence  of  the  enthusiastic  insur- 
gents. With  toleration  and  prudence,  on  the  part  of  the  go- 
vernors, the  paroxysm  of  the  governed  would  quickly  have  sub- 
sided. <  ,  *(!W  *h\  / 
V.  Finally ;  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  intolerance  of 
Mary,  I  trust  that  this  charge  will  not  be  brought  against  the 
next  Catholic  sovereign,  James  II.  I  have  elsewhere  *  shown, 
that,  when  duke  of  York,  he  used  his  best  endeavours  to  get  the 
act,  De  Heretico  Comburendo,  repealed,  and  to  afford  an  asy- 
lum to  the  Protestant  exiles,  who  flocked  to  England,  from 
France,  on  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  and,  in  short, 
that,  when  king,  he  lost  his  crown  in  the  cause  of  toleration : 
his  Declaration  of  Liberty  of  Conscience,  having  been  the  deter- 
mining cause  of  his  deposition.  But  what  need  of  words  to  dis- 
prove the  odious  calumny,  that  Catholics  "  breathe  the  spirit 
of  cruelty  and  murder,"  and  are  obliged,  by  their  religion,  to 
be  persecutors,  when  every  one  of  our  gentry,  who  has  made 
the  tour  of  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  has  experienced  the 
contrary  ;  and  has  been  as  cordially  received  by  the  Pope  him- 
self, in  his  metropolis  of  Rome,  where  he  is  both  prince  ami 


I 
I 


il 


History  of  Winchester,  vol.  i.  p.  437,  Letters  to  a  Prebendary,  p.  376t 


4 


310 


Letter  XLIX. 


bishop,  in  the  character  of  an  English  Protestant,  as  if  he  wene 
known  to  be  the  most  zealous  Catholic ! — Still,  1  fear,  there  are 
some  individuals  in  your  society,  as  there  are  many  other  Pro- 
testants of  my  acquaintance  elsewhere,  who  cling  fast  to  this 
charge  against  Catholics,  of  persecution,  as  the  last  resource 
^or  their  own  intolerance ;  and,  it  being  true,  that  Catholics 
have,  in  some  times  and  places,  unsheathed  the  sword  against 
the  heterodox,  these  persons  insist  upon  it,  that  it  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  Catholic  religion  to  persecute.     On  the  other  hand, 
many  Protestants,  either  from  ignorance  or  policy,  nowadays, 
claim  for  themselves,  exclusively,  the  credit  of  toleration.     As 
an  instance  of  this,  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  writes :  "  1  consider 
toleration  as  a  mark  of  the  true  church,  and  as  a  principle,  re- 
commended by  the  most  eminent  of  our  reformers  and  divines."* 
Id  these  circumstances,  I  know  but  of  one  argument  to  stop  the 
mouths  of  such  disputants,  which  is  to  prove  to  them,  that  per- 
secution has  not  only  been  more  generally  practised  by  Pro- 
testants than  by  Catholics,  but  also,  that  it  has  been  more 
warmly  defended  and  supported  by  the  most  eminent  "  Refornv> 
ers  and  divines'*  of  their  party,  than  by  their  opponents.       ',.. 
I.  The  learned  Bergier  defies  Protestants  to  mention  so  much 
fis  a  town,  in  which  their  predecessors,  on  becoming  masters  of 
it,  tolerated  a  single  Catholic  in  it.f     Rousseau,  who  was  edu- 
cated a  Protestant,  says,  that  "  the  Reformation  was  intolerant 
from  it  cradle,  and  its  authors  universally  persecutors."!   Bayle, 
who  was  a  Calvinist,  has  published  much  the  same  thing.     Fi- 
nally, the  Huguenot  minister,  Jurieu,    acknowledges,  that  "  Ge- 
neva, Switzerland,  the  Republics,  electors  and  princes  of  the 
empire,   England,   Scotland,   Sweden,  and  Denmark,  had  all 
employed  the  power  of  the  state  to  abolish  Popery,  and  esta- 
blish the  Reformation. "§     But  to  proceed  to  other  more  posi- 
tive proofs  of  M'hat  has  been  said ;  the  first  father  of  Protest- 
antism, finding  his  new  religion,  which  he  had  submitted  to  the 
Pope,  condemned  by  him,  immediately  sounded  the  trumpet  of 
persecution  and  murder  against  the  pontiff,  and  all  his  support- 
ers, in  the  following  terms  :  "  If  we  send  thieves  to  the  gallows, 
and  robbers  to  the  block,  why  do  we  not  fall  on  those  masters 
of  perdition,  the  Popes,  cardinals,  and  bishops,  with  all  our 
force,  and  not  give  over  till  we  have  bathed  our  hands  in  their 
blood  .^"11     He  elsewhere  calls  the  Pope,  "  a  mad  wolf,  against 


♦  Charge  in  18U. 

t  letters  de  la  Mont. 

\  Tab.  Lett  auoted  bj  Boaiuet,  Avertiss,  p.  683. 

I  Ad  Silvcst.  Percir. 


t  Trnit  llUt.  et  Dof  mat 


Letter  XLIX, 


JIU 


if  he  wene 
,  there  are 
ither  Fro- 
st to  this 

resource 
Catholics 
d  against 

essential 
her  hand, 
lowadays, 
tion.     As 

consider 
ciple,  re- 
iivines."* 

0  stop  the 
that  per- 

by  Pro- 
ven more 
'  Reform- 
its. 

1  so  much 
nasters  of 
was  edu- 

intolerant 
X  Bayle, 
ing.  Fi- 
hat "  Ge- 
es of  the 
,  had  all 
and  esta- 
[>re  posi- 
'  Protest- 
ed to  the 
umpct  of 
support- 
gallows, 
3  masters 
I  all  our 
i  in  their 
^,  against 


whom  every  one  ought  to  take  arms,  without  waiting  for  an 
order  from  the  magistrate."  He  adds,  "  if  you  fall  before  the 
beast  has  received  its  mortal  wound,  you  will  have  but  one 
thing  to  be  sorry  for,  that  you  did  not  bury  your  dagger  in  its 
breast.     All  that  defend  him  must  be  treated  like  a  band  of 
robbers,  be  they  kings  or  be  they  Cwsars."*     By  these  and 
similar  incentive  i,  with  which  the  works  of  Luther  abound,  he 
not  only  excited  the  Lutherans  themselves  to  propagate  their 
religion  by  fire  and  sword  against  the  emperor  and  other  Ca-» 
tholic  princes,  but  also  gave  occasion  to  all  the  sanguinary  and 
frantic  scenes,  which  the  Anabaptists  played,  at  the  same  time, 
through  the  lower  part  of  Germany.    Coeval  with  these  was  the 
civil  war,  which  another  arch-reformer,  Zuinglius,  lighted  up  in 
Switzerland,  by  way  of  propagating  his  peculiar  system,  and 
the  persecution  which  he  raised  equally  against  the  Catholics 
and  the  Anabaptists.     Even  the  moderate  Melancthon  wrote  a 
book  in  defence  of  religious  persecution,!  and  the  conciliatory 
Bucer,  who  became  professor  of  divinity  at  Cambridge,  not 
satisfied  with  the  burning  of  the  heretic,  Servetus,  preached  that 
"  his  bowels  ought  to  have  been  torn  out,  and  his  body  chop- 
ped to  pieces."J  '•  :     >  .      i   •:  i     ..  i.v/l 
IL  But  the  great  champion  of  persecution,  every  one  knows, 
was  the  founder  of  the  second  great  branch  of  Protestantism, 
John  Calvin.     Not  content  with  burning  Servetus,  beheading 
Gruet,  and  persecuting  other  distinguished  Protestants,  Castallo, 
Bolsec,  and  Gentilis,  (who  being  apprehended  in  the  neigh- 
bouring Protestant  canton  of  Berne,  was  put  to  death  there)  he 
set  up  a  consistorial  inquisition  at  Geneva,  for  forcing  every 
one  to  conform  to  his  opinions,  and  required,  that  the  magis- 
trates should  punish  whomever  this  consistory  condemned.    He 
was  succeeded  in  his  spirit,  as  well  as  in  his  ofiice,  by  Beza, 
who  wrote  a  folio  work  in  defence  of  persecution.'^     In  this  he 
shows,  that  Luther,  Melancthon,  Builinger,  Capito,  no  less  than 
Calvin,  had  written  works,  exj)ressly  in  defence  of  this  prin- 
ciple, which,  accordingly,  was  firmly  maintained  by  Calvin'i 
followers,  particularly  in  France.     Bossuet  refers  to  the  public 
records,  of  Nismcs,  Monfpelier  and  other  places,  in  proof  of  the 
directions,  issued  by  the  Calvinist  consistories  to  their  generals, 
for  "  forcing  the  Papists  to  embrace  the  Reformation  by  taxes, 
quartering  soldiers  upon  them,  demolishing  their  houses,  &ic." 


I 


♦  Theses  npud  Sleid.  A.  D.  1515.  Opera  Luth.  torn.  I. 

t  Ue/i),  De  IluM-et.  piiiiiciid. 

t  Ge,.  Hian.lt.  Hist.  .\\mr,.  Hofor.  Pais  Has,  vol.  I.  p.  454. 

^  De  llxrclu-tspiinitMitlistu  (  ivili  MaKiHtrutu.  Ulc.  A  Thuod.  Beza. 


M 


912 


Letter  XLIX, 


and  he  says,  "  the  wells  into  which  the  Catholics  were  flung, 
and  the  instruments  of  torture  which  were  used  at  the  first  men- 
tioned city,  to  force  them  to  attend  the  Protestant  sermons,  are 
things  of  public  notoriety."*  In  fact,  who  has  not  read  of  the 
infamous  baron  D'Adrets,  whose  savage  sport  it  was,  to  torture 
nnd  murder  Catholics,  in  a  Catholic  kingdom,  and  who  forced 
iiis  son  literaliv  to  wash  his  hands  in  their  blood  f  Who  has 
noi  heard  g:  mc  Mihuman  Jane,  queen  of  Navarre,  who  massa- 
/ '  cred  priests  and  religious  persons,  by  hundreds,  merely  on  ac- 

count of  their  sacred  character  ?     In  short.  Catholic  France, 
throughout  its  extent,  and  during  a  great  number  of  years,  was 
'    n  scene  of  desolation  and  slaughter,  from  the  unrelenting  per- 
secution of  its  Huguenot  subjects.     Nor  was  the  spectacle  dis- 
similar in  the  Low  Countries,  when  Calvinism  got  a  footing  in 
them.     Their  first  synod,  held  in  1574,  equally  proscribed  the 
Catholics  and  the  Anabaptists,  calling  upon  the  magistrates  to 
support  their  decrees,f  which  decrees  were  renewed  in  several 
subsequent  synods.     I  have  elsewhere  quoted  a  late  Protestant 
writer,  who,  on  the  authority  of  existing  public  records,  de- 
scribes the  horrible  torments  with  which  Vandermerk  and  Sonoi, 
two  generals  of  the  prince  of  Orange,  put  to  death  incredible 
numbers  of  Dutch  Catholics.  J      Other  writers  furnish  more 
ample  materials  of  the  same  kind.^     But  while  the  Calvinist 
ministers  continued  to  stimulate  their  magistrates  to  redoubled 
severities  against  the  Catholics,  for  which   purpose,  among 
other  means,  they  translated  into  Dutch    and    published  the 
above-mentioned  work  of  Beza,  a  new  object  of  their  persecu- 
tion arose  in  the  bosom  of  their  own  society ;  Arminius,  Vos- 
sius,  Episcopius,  and  some  other  divines,  supported  by  the  il- 
lustrious statesmen,  Barnevelt  and  Grotius,  declared  against  the 
more  rigorous  of  Calvin's  maxims.     They  would  not  admit, 
that  God  decrees  men  to  be  wicked,  and  then  punishes  them 
everlastingly  for  what  they  cannot  help  ;  nor  that  many  persons 
are  in  his  actual  grace  and  favour,  while  they  are  immersed  in 
the  most  enormous  crimes.     For  denying  this,  Barnevelt  was 
belieaded,!!   Grotius  was  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment, 
and  all  the  remonstrant  clergy,  as  they  were  called,  were  ba- 
nished, at  the  requisition  of  the  synod  of  Dort,  from  their  fami- 
lies and  their  country,  with  circumstances  of  ihe  greatest  cniplty. 


li'Hi  I 


\  Brandt,  vol.  I.  p.  227. 


•  Varlat  L.  x.  m.  52. 
t  V.  2H3.     Letters  to  a  Prebenel  p.  103. 
^  See  the  learned  Ks(insN  IliMory  of  tlie  Martyrs  of  (lorciim;  Dc  Brandt,  kn. 
i  DtoJaU,  quul«d  by  BraiiUt,  suyHtlail  the  cunouu  of  Dcrt  carried  odtlic  head  of 
IVu-ncvelt. 


In  speak 
cuting  d( 
and  Zuin 
while  bo 
tisls.  B 
kingdom 
has  signi 
Protestai 
Jaws,  wl 
former, 
mentions 
in  Swed( 
liaci  beer 
himself  \ 
III.  1 
island  : 
murdert' 
riotously 
else,  wlii 
tumultu( 
iigion  w 
to  caplt; 
gers,"  s 
of  tolera 
was  Job 
and  serr 
tion,  wli 
that  " 
is  to  a 
a  high  ¥ 
ing  to  d 
testnnts 
nnd  to 
.lexabel' 
into  Ell 
consriei 
bel,  Ma 
nnd  all 
W'illox, 


♦  Span( 
t  (Jilb. 
I  IliKir 
IJ  SI  nil  r 
5)  Citci 


were  flung, 
e  first  men- 
ermons,  are 
read  of  the 
,  to  torture 
who  forced 
Who  has 
who  massa- 
rely  on  ac- 
lie  France, 
f  years,  was 
en  ting  per- 
lectacle  dis- 
a  footing  in 
)scribed  the 
igistrates  to 
d  in  several 
;  Protestant 
ecords,  de- 
and  Sonoi, 
1  incredible 
rnish  more 
le  Calvinist 
)  redoubled 
)se,  among 
blislied  the 
Mr  persecu- 
linius,  Vos- 
i  by  the  il- 
against  the 
not  admit, 
lishes  them 
my  personn 
nmersed  in 
•ncvelt  was 
irisonment, 
,  were  ba- 
their  fami- 
jst  cruelty. 

7. 

Bnnrlt,  tio. 
i\'  tlio  liuud  jf 


Letter  XLIX. 


313 


In  speaking  of  Lutlieranlsm,  I  have  passed  by  many  perse^ 
cuting  decrees  and  practices  of  its  adherents  against  Calvmista 
and  Zninglians.  and  many  more  of  Calvinists  against  Lutherans; 
while  both  parties  agreed  in  showing  no  mercy  to  the  Anabap- 
tists. Before  1  quit  the  continent,  I  must  mention  the  Lutheran 
kingdoms  of  Denmark  and  Sweden,  in  both  which,  as  Jurieau 
has  signified  above,  the  Catholic  religion  was  extirpated,  and 
Protestantism  established  by  means  of  rigorous,  persecuting 
laws,  which  denonnred  the  punishment  of  death  against  the 
former.  Professor  Messenius,  who  wrote  about  the  year  1600, 
mentions  four  Catholics  who  had  recently  been  put  to  death, 
in  Sweden,  on  account  of  their  religion,  and  eight  others  who 
had  been  imprisoned  and  tortured  on  that  account,  of  whom  he 
himself  was  one.* 

HI.  To  pass  over  now,  to  the  northern  part  of  our  own 
island  :  the  first  rcforniers  of  Scotland,  having  deliberately 
murdert'  i  Cardinal  J3eaton,  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,f  and 
riotously  destroyed  the  churches,  monasteries,  and  every  thing 
else,  whiih  they  termed  monuments  of  Popery,  assembled  in  a 
tumultuous  and  illegal  manner,  and  before  even  their  own  re- 
ligion was  established  by  law,  they  condemned  the  Catholics 
to  capital  punishment  for  the  exercise  of  theirs :  "  such  stran- 
gers," says  Robertson,  "  were  men,  at  that  time,  to  the  spirit 
of  toleration  and  the  laws  of  humanity  !"  J  Their  chief  apostle 
was  John  Knox,  an  apostate  friar,  who,  in  all  his  publications 
and  sermons,  maintained,  that  "  it  is  not  birth,  but  God's  elec- 
tion, which  confers  a  right  to  the  throne  and  to  magistracy;" 
that  "  no  promise  or  oath,  made  to  an  enemy  of  the  truth,  that 
is  to  a  Catholic,  is  binding ;"  and  that  "  every  such  enemy,  in 
a  high  station,  is  to  be  deposed. "<^  Not  content  with  threaten- 
ing to  depose  her,  he  told  his  queen,  to  her  face,  that  the  Pro- 
testants had  a  right  to  take  the  sword  of  justice  into  their  hands, 
and  to  punish  h^r,  as  Samuel  slew  Agag,  and  as  Elias  slew 
.ley-abel's  prophets. |j  Conformably  with  this  doctrine,  he  wrote 
into  England,  that  "  the  nobility  and  people  were  bound  in 
conscience,  not  only  to  withstand  the  proceedings  of  that  Jeza- 
bel,  Mary,  whom  they  call  queen,  but  also  to  put  her  to  death, 
and  all  her  priests  with  her. "IT  His  fellow  apostles,  Goodman, 
W'illox,  Buchanan,  Rough,  Black,  k,c.  constantly  inculcated  to 

♦  Spandia  lUustrat  (luofcd  by  Le  Biun.     Mess.  Explic.  t.  iv.  p.  40. 
t  (Jilh.  Stuart  s  Hist,  of  H«>f.  in  Scot.  vol.  i.  p.  M,  kr. 
t  Ilifttot'Srollund,  An.  ir)»!0.  ^  .See  Collier's  lice,  Hiitt.  vol  ii.p  448i 

II  .Stuarts  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  .fift. 

H  Cited  by  Dr,  rulci':jun,  in  his  Jcrun.  and  Rubcl.  .  i    . 

2  II 


:i 


314 


I^Jter  XLIX. 


the  people  the  same  seditious  and  persecuting  doctrine ;  and  the 
Presbyterian  ministers,  in  general,  earnestly  pressed  for  the 
execution  of  their  innocent  queen,  who  was  accused  of  a  mur- 
der, perpetrated  by  their  own  Protestant  leaders.*  The  same 
unrelenting  intolerance  was  seen  among  "  the  most  moderate" 
of  their  clergy,  "  when  they  were  assembled  by  order  of  king 
James  and  his  council,  to  inquire  whether  the  Catholic  earls  of 
Huntly,  Errol,  and  their  followers,  on  making  a  proper  con- 
cession, might  not  be  admitted  into  the  church,  and  be  exempt 
from  further  punishment?"  These  ministers  then  answered, 
that  "  Though  the  gates  of  mercy  are  always  open  for  those 
who  repent,  yet,  as  these  noblemen  had  been  guilty  of  idolatry, 
(the  Catholic  religion)  a  crime  deserving  death  by  the  laws 
both  of  God  and  man,  the  civil  magistrate  could  not  legalJy 
pardon  them,  and  that,  though  the  church  should  absolve  them, 
it  was  his  duty  to  inflict  punishment  upon  them."f  But  we 
need  not  be  surprised  at  any  severity  of  the  Presbyterians 
against  Catholics,  when,  among  other  penances,  ordained 
by  public  authority,  against  their  own  members  who  should 
break  the  fast  of  Lent,  whipping  in  the  church  was  one.  J 

IV.  The  father  of  the  Church  of  England,  under  the  authori- 
ty of  the  protector  Seymour,  duke  of  Somerset,  was  confessedly 
Thomas  Cranmer,  whom  Henry  VIII.  raised  to  the  archbishop- 
ric of  Canterbury;  of  whom  it  is  diflicult  to  say,  whether  his 
obsequiousness  to  the  passions  of  his  successive  masters,  Henry, 
Seymour,  and  Dudley,  or  his  barbarity  to  the  sectaries  who 
were  in  his  power,  was  the  more  odious.  There  is  this  circum- 
stance, which  distinguishes  him  from  almost  every  other  perse- 
cutor, that  he  actively  promoted  the  capital  punishment,  not 
only  of  those  who  differed  from  him  in  religion,  but  also  of 
those  who  agreed  with  him  in  it.  It  is  admitted  by  his  advo- 
cates,^ that  he  was  instrumental,  during  the  reign  of  Henry,  in 
bringing  to  the  stake  the  Protestants,  Lambert,  Askew,  Frith, 
and  Allen,  besides  condemning  a  great  many  others  to  it,  for 
denying  the  corporal  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  which 
he  disbelieved  himself  ;||  and  it  is  equally  certain,  that  during 
the  reign  of  the  child  Edward,  he  continued  to  convict  Arians 
and  Anabaptists  capitally,  and  to  press  for  their  execution. 
Two  of  these,  Joan  Knell  and  George  Van  Par,  he  got  actually 


t  Robertson's  Hist.  An.  1596. 


♦  Rtuart'n  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  255 

t  bluarl,  vol.  ii.  p.  U4. 

^  Fox,  ArlH  i\iu\  Momim.     FiiIIit's  Church  Hist.  b.  v, 

II  Sci!  LcUcrs  to  a  I'rcb.  i).  SiOli. 


burfit: 
them, 
ought  t( 
eminent 
bishop  '. 
cutors,  I 
no  less 
Upon 
Englan( 
l)uttress 
ed,  by 
shown, 
tholics  ' 
the  men 
for  almr 
condemt 
hundred 
tions,  ar 
for  heai 
When  tc 
dreds  of 
driven  ii 
appear, 
grievous 
proper  d 
Nor  was 
numbers 
into  En{ 
brethren 
tiere,  as 
try.     T. 
win  Sam 
cation.  II 
to  their 
twenty-8 


♦  Bumc 

t  Seoth 

in  Letters  \ 

t  Certui 

Bufllred  fo 

treason  co 

wero  tniiti 

re«t[KM*.t  to 

^  Se«le 

•'  Ocr.  1 


'Letter  XUX, 


315 


ine ;  and  the 
ssed  for  the 
d  of  a  mur- 

The  same 
;  moderate" 
der  of  king 
olic  earls  of 
proper  con- 
l  be  exempt 
I  answered, 
en  for  those 
of  idolatry, 
)y  the  laws 
not  legalJy 
solve  them, 
f  But  we 
•esbyterians 
,  ordained 
kvho  should 
ine.| 

he  authori- 
confessedly 
rchbishop- 
^vhether  his 
ers,  Henry, 
taries  who 
his  circum- 
ther  perse- 
hnient,  not 
)ut  also  of 
y  his  advo- 

Henry,  in 
<ew,  Frith, 
s  to  it,  for 
lent,  which 
hat  during 
vict  Arians 
execution, 
ot  actually 

596. 


burflt :  preventing  the  young  king,  Edward,  from  pardoning 
them,  by  telling  him,  that  "  princes  being  God's  deputies, 
ought  to  punish  impieties  against  him."*  The  two  next  most 
eminent  fathers  of  the  English  church  were,  unquestionably, 
bishop  Ridley,  and  bishop  Latimer,  both  of  them  noted  perse- 
cutors, and  persecutors  of  Protestants  to  the  extremity  of  death, 
MO  less  than  of  Anabaptists  and  other  sectaries  !f  -i;  'nit 

Upon  the  second  establishment  of  the  Protestant  religion  in 
England,  when  Elizabeth  ascended  the  throne,  it  was  again 
l)uttressed  up  here,  as  in  every  other  comitry,  where  it  prevail- 
ed, by  the  most  severe,  persecuting  laws.  I  have  elsewhere 
shown,  from  authentic  sources,  that  above  two  hundred  Ca- 
tholics were  hanged,  drawn  and  quartered  during  her  reign,  for 
the  mere  profession  or  exercise  of  the  religion  of  their  ancestors 
for  almost  one  thousand  years.  Of  this  number  fifteen  were 
condemned  for  denying  the  queen's  spiritual  supremacy,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  for  the  exercise  of  their  priestly  func- 
tions, and  the  rest  for  being  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  church, 
for  hearing  mass,  or  aiding  and  abetting  Catholic  priests.| 
When  to  these  sanguinary  scenes  are  added  those  of  many  hun- 
dreds of  other  Catholics,  who  perished  in  dungeons,  who  were 
driven  into  exile,  or  who  were  stripped  of  their  property,  it  will 
appear,  that  the  persecution  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  far  more 
grievous  than  that  of  her  sister  Mary;  especially  when  the 
proper  deductions  are  made  from  the  sufferers  under  the  latter.^ 
Nor  was  persecution  confined  to  the  Catholics ;  for,  when  great 
numbers  of  foreign  Anabaptists,  and  other  sectaries,  had  fled 
into  England,  from  the  fires  and  gibbets  of  their  Protestant 
brethren  in  Holland,  they  found  their  situation  much  worse 
here,  as  they  complained,  than  it  had  been  in  their  own  coun- 
try. To  silence  these  complaints,  the  bishop  of  London,  Ed- 
win Sandys,  published  a  book  in  vindication  of  religious  perse- 
cution. ||  In  short,  the  Protestant  church  and  state  concurred 
to  their  extirpation.  An  assembly  of  them,  to  the  number  of 
twenty-seven,  having  being  seized  upon  in  1575,  some  of  them 

♦  Bumet'i  Ch.  Hist  p.  il.  b.  i.  ,     ^  i       h»i 

t  8eo  the  proofs  of  these  fucta  collected  from  Fox,  Burnet,  Heylin,  and  CoUie.*, 
in  Letter!  to  a  Preb.  Let.  V. 

t  Certain  opponents  of  mine  have  publicly  objected  to  me,  that  these  CathoHca 
SUtTcrcd  for  high  treason  :  true  ;  the  Iviws  of  porsociition  declared  so:  Imt  tlieir  only 
trca=ion  consisted  in  their  reliifion.  Thus  the  Apostles,  and  other  Ohriatian  mortyrs, 
•wero  traitors  in  the  eye  of  the  Pagan  law  ;  and  the  chief  prie.sU  de<dared,  wHh 
res[iect  to  (yhrist  himself;  i/te  hcwe  a  hw,  and  according  to  that  he  otig/U  (o  dii,  • 
f  See  letters  to  a  Prt-bendar)',  pp.  149,  150.  >  " 

'■  Ucr.  Brandt,  Hist.  Ucforui.  Abrcg.'vol.  i.  p.  23i.  •       •  ,     ..       'Ij  i 

30  .-  ■ 


,-i 


I  '* 


niG 


Letter  XLIX, 


were  so  intimidated  as  to  recant  their  opinions,  some  were 
scourged,  two  of  them,  Peterson  and  Terwort,  were  burnt  to 
death  in   Srnithfield,  and  the  rest  banished.^     Besides  these 
foreigners,  the  English  Dissenters  were  also  grievously  perse- 
cuted.    Several  of  them,  such  as  Thacker,  Copping,  Green- 
wood, Barrow,  Penry,  &c.  were  put  to  death,  wiiich  rigiiurs 
they  ascribed  principally  to  the  bishops,  particularly  to  Parker, 
Aylmer,  Sandys,  and  Whitgift.f    The  last  named,  they  accused 
of  being  the  chief  author  of  the  famous  inquisitorial  court, 
called  the  Star  Chamber,  which  court,  in  addition  to  all  its 
other  vexations  and  severities,  employed  the  rack  and  torture, 
to  extort  confession.!     The  doctrines  and  practice  of  persecu- 
tion, in  England,  did  not  end  with  the  race  of  Tudor.     James 
I,  though  he  was  reproached  with  being  favourable  to  the  Ca- 
tholics, nevertheless  signed  warrants  for  twenty-five  of  them 
to  be  hanged  and  quartered,  and  sent  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  of  them  into  banishment,  barely  on  account  of  their  re- 
ligion, besides  exacting  the  6ne  of  20/.  per  month  from  those 
who  did  not  attend  the  church  service.    Still  he  was  repeatedly 
called  upon  by  parliament  to  put  the  penal  laws  in  force  with 
greater  rigour ;  in  order,  say  they,  "  to  advance  the  glory  of 
Almighty  God,  and  the  everlasting  honour  of  your  majesty  ;"<^ 
and  he  was  warned  by  archbishop  Abbot,  against  tolerating 
Catholics,  in  the  following  terms :  "  Your  majesty  hath  pro- 
pounded a  toleration  of  religion.     By  your  act  you  labour  to 
set  up  that  most  damnable  and  heretical  doctrine  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  the  whore  of  Babylon  ;  and  thereby  draw  down  upon 
the  kingdom  and  yourself,  God's  heavy  wrath  and  indigna- 
tiou."||     In  the  mean  time  the  Puritans  complained  loudly  of 
the  persecution,  which  they  endured  from  the  court  of  High 
Commission,  and  pirticularly  from  archbishop  Bancroft,  and 
the  bishops  Nealo,  of  Litchfield,  and  King,  of  London.     They 
charged  the  former  of  these,  with  not  only  condemning  Edward 
Wightman  for  his  opinions,  but  also,  with  getting  the  king's 
warrant  for  his  execution,  who  was  accordingly  burnt  at  Lich- 
field;  and  the  latter,  with  treating,  in  the  same  way,  Bartholo- 
mew Legat,  who  was  consumed  in  Srnithfield. IF     The  same 
unrelenting  spirit  of  persecution  prevailed  in  the  addresses  of 
parliiment,  and  of  many  bishops  to  Charles  1,  which  bad  dis- 


*  Brandt,  vol  1.  p.  234.  Hist,  of  Churches  of  Engt  and  Scotl.  vol.  il  p.  199. 
t  Ihid.  I  Mosheim,  vol.  iv.  p.  40. 

^  Rushworth's  Collect,  vol.  i.    p.  141.  ||  Hushworth's  Collect 

51  Chandler's  Introduct.  to  Liinborche's  Hist,  of  Inquis.  p.  80.    Neal*s  Hitt  of 
Purtt.  vol.  ii.  p«  '•'S. 


Ltiter  XLIX. 


317 


some  were 
re  burnt  to 
sides  these 
usiy  perse- 
ng,  Green- 
cli  rigiiurs 
to  Parker, 
ey  acrused 
rial  court, 

to  all  its 

nd  torture, 

)f  persecu- 

)r.     James 

to  the  Ca- 

'6  of  them 

nd  twenty- 

>f  their  re- 

from  those 

repeatedly 

force  with 

e  glory  of 

majesty;"^ 

tolerating 

hath  pro- 
1  labour  to 
the  church 
Jown  upon 
d  indigna- 
!  loudly  of 
t  of  High 
icroft,  and 
)n.  They 
ig  Edward 
the  king's 
It  at  Lich- 
Bartholo- 
The  same 
Idresscs  of 
h  had  dis- 

L  p.  199. 

Bt 

iealtlliitof 


graced  those  presented  to  his  father :  one  of  these,  signed  by 
the  renowned  archbishop  Usher,  and  eleven  other  Irish  bishop!^ 
of  the  establishment,  declares,  that  "  to  give  toleration  to  Pa- 
pists, is  to  become  accessary  to  superstition,  idolatry,  and  the 
perdition  of  souls ;  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  a  grievous  sin."* 
At  length  the  Presbyterians,  and  Independents,  getting  the  up- 
per hand,  had  an  opportunity  of  giving  full  scope  to  their 
characteristic  intolerance.  Their  divines,  being  assembled  ai 
Sion  college,  condemned,  as  an  error,  the  doctrine  of  tolera- 
tion, "  under  the  abused  term,"  as  they  expressed  it,  '*  of  li- 
berty of  conscience."!  Conformably  with  this  doctrine,  they 
procured  from  their  parliament  a  number  of  persecuting  acts, 
from  those  of  fining,  up  to  those  of  capital  punishment.  The 
objects  of  them  were  not  only  Catholics,  but  also  church  of 
England  men,|  Quakers,  Seekers,  and  Arians.  In  the  meau 
time,  they  frequently  appointed  national  fasts  to  atone  for  their 
pretended  guilt,  in  being  too  tolerant.^  Warrants  for  the  exe- 
cution of  four  English  Catholics,  were  extorted  from  the  king, 
while  he  was  in  power,  and  near  twenty  others  were  publicly 
executed  under  the  parliament  and  the  protector.  This  hypo- 
critical tyrant  afterwards  invading  Ireland,  and  being  bent  ou 
exterminating  the  Catholic  population  there,  persuaded  his 
boldiers,  that  they  had  a  divine  commission  for  this  purpose,  as 
the  Israelites  had  to  exterminate  the  Canaanites.||  To  make' 
an  end  of  the  clergy,  he  put  the  same  price  upon  a  priest's  as 
upon  a  wolfs  head.lT  Those  Puritans  who,  previously  to  the 
civil  war,  had  sailed  to  North  America,  to  avoid  persecution^ 
set  up  a  far  more  cruel  one  there,  particularly  against  the  Qua- 
kers, whipping  them,  cropping  their  ears,  boring  their  tongues 
with  a  hot  iron,  and  hanging  them.  We  have  the  names  of 
four  of  these  sufferers,  one  of  them  a  woman,  who  were  executed 
at  Boston.**  '  '»<-' 

IV.  The  Catholics  had  behaved  with  unparalleled  loyalty 
to  the  king  and  constitution,  during  the  whole  war  which  the 
Puritans  waged  against  these.  It  has  even  been  demonstrat- 
ed,*!  I  that  three-fifths  of  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who  lo^t 
their  lives  on  the  side  of  royalty,  were  Catholics,  and  that  more 
than  half  of  the  landed  property,  confiscated  by  the  rebels,  be- 


.  ft   n 


I    ( 


*  Leland*8  Hist.,  of  Irelund,  vol.  li.  p,  483.    Neal*s  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  469. 

t  Hist,  of  Churches  of  Kng.  und  ScotI,  vol.  iii.  t  Ibid. 

f,  Ibid,  Ncal's  Hist. 

II  Anderson's  iloyul  Goneal.  quoted  Ity  Curry,  vol.  ii.  p.  11. 

f  Ibid.  p.  6.1.  ♦*  Noal's  lii.st.  ofCliurciies.  * 

tJ  Lord  CiiMtlcuaiu's  Cutholit'  .\pology. 


■!'. 


] 


did 


Letter  XUX, 


longed  to  the  Catholics;  add  to  this,  that  they  were  chiefly  in- 
strumental  in  saving  Charles  II,  after  his  defeat  at  Worcester; 
hence  there  was  reason  to  expect,  that  the  restoration  of  the 
king  and  constitution,  would  have  brought  an  alleviation,  if  not 
an  end  of  their  sufferings :  but  the  contrary  proved  to  be  the 
case :  for  then  all  parties  seem  to  have  combined  to  make  them 
the  common  object  of  their  persecuting  spirit  and  fury.  In 
proof  of  this,  I  need  allege  nothing  more  than  that  two  different 
parliaments  voted  the  reality  of  Oates^s  Plot !  and  that  eighteen 
innocent  and  loyal  Catholics,  one  of  them  a  peer,  suffered  the 
death  of  traitors,  on  account  of  it :  to  say  nothing  of  seven 
other  priests,  who,  about  that  time,  were  hanged  and  quartered 
for  the  mere  e\ercise  of  their  priestly  functions.  Among  the 
absurdities  of  that  sanguinary  plot,  such  as  those  of  shooting 
the  king  with  silver  bullets,  and  invading  the  island  with  an 
army  of  pilgrims  from  Compostella,  &c.*  it  was  not  the  least 
to  pretend,  that  the  Catholics  wished  to  kill  the  kins  at  all ; 
that  king  whom  they  had  heretofore  saved  in  Staffordshire,  and 
whom  they  well  knew  to  be  secretly  devoted  to  their  religion ; 
but  any  pretext  was  good  which  would  serve  the  purposes  of  a 
persecuting  faction.  These  purposes  were  to  exclude  Catholics 
not  only  from  the  throne,  but  also  from  the  smallest  degree  of 
political  power,  down  to  that  of  a  constable,  and  to  shut  the 
doors  of  both  houses  of  parliament  against  them.  The  faction 
succeeded  in  its  first  design  by  the  Test  Act,  and  in  its  second, 
by  the  act  requiring  the  Declaration  against  Popery ;  both  ob- 
tained at  a  period  of  national  delirium  and  fury.  What  the 
spirit  of  the  clergy  was,  at  that  time,  with  respect  to  the  op- 
pressed Catholics,  appeared  at  their  solemn  procession  at  sir 
Edmundbury  Godfrey's  funeral,f  and  still  appears  in  the  three 
folio  volumes  of  invective  and  misrepresentation  then  published, 
under  the  title  of  A  Preservative  against  Popery.  On  the  other 
hand,  such  was  the  unchristian  hatred  of  the  Dissenters  against 
the  Catholics,  that  they  promoted  the  Test  Act  with  all  their 
power, J  though  no  less  injurious  to  themselves  than  to  the  Ca- 
tholics ;  and  on  every  occasion,  they  refused  a  toleration  which 
might  extend  to  the  latter^  There  is  no  need  of  bringing 
down  the  history  of  persecution  in  this  country  to  a  later  period 
than  the  revolution,  at  which  time,  as  I  observed  before,  a  Ca- 
tholic king  was  deposed,  because  he  would  not  be  a  persecutor. 


t  North\s  Exam.  Echard. 


'  .it 


♦    Krhanrs  Hist.  ,„„....  .,-.^» --.         ,,,..,,^ 

t  Neal's  Hist,  of  Puritans,  vol  iv.    Hist,  of  Churches,  vol.  iii.      ,  ,  .^  ,^  , 
4  Ibid.  ,,,,;  1,  ,,i    .^;,,.;i..     .',,,^„,  ,.,j..   ,.,„   i 


Letter  XLIX. 


chiefly  In* 
Vorcester  ; 
on  of  the 
tion,  if  not 
to  be  the 
lake  them 
fury.     In 
o  diiierent 
t  eighteen 
iffered  the 
of  seven 
quartered 
mong  tho 
'  shooting 
i  with  an 
the  least 
s  at  all; 
inire,  and 
religion; 
)oses  of  a 
Catholics 
degree  of, 
»  shut  the 
10  faction 
s  second, 
both  ob- 
IVhat  the, 
o  the  op- 
on  at  sir 
the  three 
ublished, 
the  other 
$  against 
all  their 
t  the  Ca- 
m  which 
bringing 
!r  period 
e,  a  Ca- 
'secutor. 

Iii>(r,f  * 
■•    ...jJ    • 

•'  .'  or  >. 

v..    I     t 


m 


Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  number  of  penal  laws  against  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  ancient  roligion,  and  founders  of  the  constitution 
of  this  country,  continued  to  increase  in  every  reign,  till  that  of 
his  present  majesty.  In  the  course  of  this  reign  most  of  the 
old  persecuting  laws  have  been  repealed,  but  the  two  last  men- 
tioned, enacted  in  a  mi^ment  of  delirium,  which  Hume  repre- 
sents as  our  greatest  national  disgrace,  1  mean  the  impractica- 
ble Test  Act,  and  the  unintelligible  Declaration  against  Popery , 
are  rigidly  adhered  to  under  two  groundless  pretexts.  The 
first  of  these  is,  that  they  are  necessary  for  the  support  of  the 
established  church :  and  yet  it  is  undeniable,  that  this  church 
hud  maintained  its  ground,  and  had  flourished  much  more  du- 
ring the  period  which  preceded  these  laws,  than  it  has  ever 
done  since  that  event.  The  second  pretext  is,  that  the  with- 
holding of  honours  and  emoluments  is  not  persecution.  On 
this  point,  let  a  Protestant  dignitary  of  first  rate  talents  be 
heard :  "  We  agree,  that  persecution,  merely  for  conscience 
sake,  is  against  the  genius  of  the  gospel :  and  so  is  any  law  for 
depriving  men  of  their  natural  and  civil  rights,  which  they 
claim  as  men.  We  are  also  ready  to  allow,  that  the  smallest 
negative  discouragements,  for  uniformity's  sake,  are  so  many 
persecutions.  An  incapacity  by  law  for  any  man  to  be  made 
a  judge  or  a  colonel,  merely  on  point  of  conscience,  is  a  nega- 
tive discouragement,  and,  consequently,  a  real  persecution," 
&c.*  In  the  present  case,  however,  the  persecution  which  Ca- 
tholics sufler  from  the  disabilities  in  question,  does  not  consist 
so  much  in  their  being  deju'ived  of  those  common  privileges  and 
advantages,  as  in  their  being  held  out  by  the  legislature,  as  un- 
worthy of  them,  and  thus  being  reduced  to  the  condition  of  an 
inferior  east,  in  their  own  country,  the  country  of  freedom;  this 
they  deeply  feel,  and  cannot  help  feeling. 

V.  But  to  return  to  my  subject :  I  presume,  that  if  the  facts 
and  reflections,  which  I  have  stated  in  this  letter,  had  occurred 
to  the  R.  Rev.  prelates,  mentioned  at  the  beginning  of  it,  they 
would  have  lowered,  if  not  quite  altered,  their  tone  on  the  pre- 
sent subject :  the  bishop  of  London  would  not  have  charged 
Catholics  with  claiming  a  right  to  punish  those  whom  they  call 
heretics,  "  with  penalties,  imprisonment,  tortures,  and  death :" 
nor  would  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  have  laid  down  "  toleration 
as  a  mark  of  the  true  church,  and  as  a  principle,  recommended 
by  the  most  eminent  reformers  and  (Protestant)  divines."  At 
all  events,  I  promise  myself,  that  a  due  consideration  of  the 


u 


30* 


Dean  Swift's  works,  vol.  viii.  p.  56 


Letter  XLIX. 


points  here  suggested,  will  efface  the  remaining  prejudices  of 
certain  persons  of  your  society  against  the  Catholic  church,  on 
the  score  of  her  alleged  "  spirit  of  persecution,  and  of  her  sup- 
posed claim  to  punish  the  errors  of  the  mind  with  fire  find 
sword."  They  must  have  seen,  that  she  does  not  claim,  but 
that,  in  her  very  general  councils,  she  has  disclaimed  all  power 
of  this  nature )  and  that,  in  pronouncing  those  to  be  obstinate 
heretics,  whom  she  finds  to  be  such,  she  always  pleads  for 
mercy,  in  their  behalf,  when  they  are  liable  to  severe  punish- 
[/  ment  from  the  secular  power :  a  conduct  which  many  eminent 

Protestant  Churchmen,  were  far  from  imitating,  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances. They  must  have  seen,  moreover,  that,  Jf  perse- 
cuting laws  have  been  made  and  acted  upon  by  the  princes  and 
magistrates  in  many  Catholic  countries,  the  same  conduct  has 
been  uniformly  practised  in  every  country,  from  the  Alps  to 
the  Arctic  Circle,  in  which  Protestants,  of  any  description, 
have  acquired  the  power  of  so  doing.  But,  if,  after  all,  the 
friends  alluded  to,  should  not  admit  of  any  material  difference, 
on  one  side  or  the  other,  in  this  matter,  I  will  here  point  out 
to  them  two  discriminating  circumstances  of  such  weight,  as 
must,  at  once,  decide  the  question  about  persecution  in  disfa- 
vour of  Protestants.  "  ;";*  v'-  v'^'^M'"''  "^^  .?.no»iim^TV| 
„  In  the  first  place,  when  Catholic  states  and  princes  have  per- 
secuted Protestants,  it  was  done  in  favour  of  an  ancient  religion^ 
which  had  been  established  in  their  country,  perhaps,  a  thou- 
sand or  fifteen  hundred  years,  and  which  had  long  preserved 
the  peace,  order,  and  morality  of  their  respective  subjects ;  and 
when,  at  the  same  time,  they  clearly  saw,  that  any  attempt  to 
alter  this  religion  would,  unavoidably,  produce  incalculable  dis- 
orders, and  sanguinary  contests  among  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  Protestants,  every  where,  persecuted  in  behalf  of  neMi 
systems,  in  opposition  to  the  established  laws  of  the  church,  and 
of  the  respective  states.  Not  content  with  vindicating  their 
own  freedom  of  worship,  they  endeavoured,  in  each  country,  by 
persecution,  to  force  the  professors  of  the  old  religion  to  aban- 
don it  and  adopt  theirs  ;  and  they  acted  in  the  same  way  by 
their  fellow  Protestants,  who  had  adopted  opinions  diflerenl 
from  their  own.  In  many  countries,  where  Calvinism  got  a 
head,  as  in  Scotland,  in  Holland,  at  Geneva,  and  in  France, 
they  were  riotous  mobs,  which,  under  the  direction  of  their 
pastors,  rose  in  rebellion  against  their  lawful  princes,  and  hav 
ing  secured  their  independence,  proceeded  to  sanguinary  ex 
tremities  against  the  Catholics. 


Letter  L, 


»tl 


^judices  of 
church,  on 
of  her  sup- 
h  fire  find 
claim,  but 

all  power 
'  obstinate 
pleads  for 
re  punish- 
ly  eminent 
imilar  cir- 

if  perse- 
rinces  and 
>nduct  has 
le  Alps  to 
escription, 
er  all,  the 
difference, 

point  out 
veight,  as 
n  in  disfa- 

have  per- 
it  religion^ 
»s,  a  thou- 
preserved 
jects ;  and 
ittempt  to 
jlahle  dis- 
the  other 
If  of  neM) 
lurch,  and 
ting  their 
)untry,  by 
[  to  aban- 
e  way  by 
1  diflerenl 
sm  got  a 
ti  France, 
I  of  their 
and  hav 
linary  ex 


In  the  second  place,  If  Catholic  states  and  princes  hav^  en- 
forced submission  to  their  church  by  persecution,  they  wete 
ftilly  persuaded,  that  there  is  a  divine  authority  in  this  church 
to  decide  in  all  controversies  of  religiori,  and  that  those  Chris- 
tians who  refuse  to  hear  her  voice,  when  she  pronounces  upon 
them,  are  obstinate  heretics.  But  on  what  ground  can  Pro- 
testants persecute  Christians  of  any  description  whatsoever? 
Their  grand  rule  and  fundamental  charter  is,  that  the  Scrip- 
tures  were  given  by  God  for  every  man  to  interpret  themf  as  he 
judges  best.  If,  therefore,  when'  I  hear  Christ  declaring,  Taks 
ye  and  eat^  this  is  my  body,  I  believe  what  he  says;  with  what 
consistency  can  any  Protestants  require  me,  by  pains  or  penal- 
ties, to  swear  that  I  do  not  believe  it,  and  that  to  act  conform- 
ably with  this  persuasion  is  idolatry  ?  But  religious  persecu- 
tion, which  is  every  where  odious,  will  not  much  longer  find  te- 
fuge  in  tlie  most  generous  of  nations  :  much  less  \vill  the  many 
victorious  arguments  which  demonstrate  the  true  church  6( 
Christ,  our  common  mother,  who  reclaimed  us  all  from  ths 
barbarous  rites  of  Paganism,  be  defeated  by  the  calutnnious 
•outcry,  that  she  herself  is  a  bloody  Moloch,  that  requires  hu- 

laan  victims.  .  , 

.-j-wnifffT/o -jid  ixiij  ,>'v!)'.j:fr     lam  foe.   '^'**''" 

to;  tti.i'(i-u;v»  J  ii  ii«i)'''i*«r'H<'j   /lnu/'iU  r.li  ?l  ,(»'(>fji  »    nfi'Tlri.  > 


iM'.li 


oi'vf    .iifi.it't'i   f-iil  '*ft   V'lt-.'ii  rn  >.(ioni;/   'jjfi   rt«j  ^Ulnmt)  ^laf  *«♦ 
'<^t   i.nWi   ..;    .-.i    ri  n    It!')    'All'V   UA^H 

Hi  ;iiiii!itiia;v  .f!,','..ii        I^CT^jfUv  Li»    V       .siu'C  >?id 't«>  'iliK^Hf 

To  the  FRIENDLY  SOCIETY  of  NEW  COTTAGE, 

;  irr.Kii'i  «' ;l  t'nf  )    .ill       CO^TCLUSIOM     ,,,     .^j,  ^,|   ul„.,^\   ih'uiM 
MY  FRIENDS  AND  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST, 

Having,  at  length,  finished  the  task  you  imposed  upon  me 
eight  months  ago,  in  my  several  letters  to  your  worthy  presi- 
dent, Mr.  Brown,  and  others  of  your  society,  1  address  this,  my 
concluding  letter,  to  you,  in  common,  as  a  slight  review  of 
them.  I  observed  to  you,  that,  to  succeed  in  any  inquiry,  it  is 
necessary  to  know  and  to  follow  the  right  method  of  making 
it :  hence,  I  entered  upon  the  present  important  search  after  the 
truths  of  the  Christian  Revelation,  with  a  discussion  of  the 
rules  or  methods,  followed,  for  this  purpose,  by  different  classes 
of  Christians.     Having,  then,  taken  for  grajited  the  followipic 


3!J2 


Letter  L, 


maximsj — that  Christ  has  appointed  some  rule  or  method  of 
learning  his  revelation  :  that  this  rule  must  be  an  unerring  one ; 
and  that  it  must  be  adapted  to  the  capacities  and  situations  of 
mankind^  in  general ;  1  proceeded  to  show,  that  a  supposed  pri- 
vatt'.  spirit  J  or  particular  inspiration,  is  not  that  rule  ;  because 
this  persuasion  has  led  numberless  fanatics,  in  every  age,  since 
that  of  Christ,  into  the  depths  of  error,  folly,  and  wickedness  of 
every  kind.  1  proved,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  written 
Word  or  Scripture,  according  to  each  one's  conception  of  its 
meaning,  is  not  that  rule ;  because  it  is  not  adapted  to  the  ca- 
pacity and  situation  of  the  bulk  of  mankind ;  a  great  propor- 
tion of  them  not  being  able  to  read  the  Scripture,  and  much 
less  to  form  a  connected  sense  of  a  single  chapter  of  it ;  and, 
l)ecause  innumerable  Christians,  at  all  times,  by  following  this 
presumptuous  method,  have  given  into  heresies,  impieties,  con- 
tradictions, and  crimes,  almost  as  numerous  and  flagrant  as 
tnose  of  the  above  mentioned  fanatics.  Finally,  I  demonstra- 
ted, that  there  is  a  two-fold  word  of  God,  the  unwritten,  and 
the  written ;  that  the  former  was  appointed  by  Christ,  and 
made  use  of  by  the  apostles,  for  converting  nations ;  and  that 
it  was  not  made  void  by  the  inspired  Epistles  and  Gospels, 
which  some  of  the  apostles,  and  the  evangelists,  addressed,  for 
the  most  part,  to  particular  churches  or  individuals ;  that  the 
Catholic  church  is  the  divinely  commissioned  guardian  and  in- 
terpreter of  the  word  of  God,  in  both  its  parts  ;  and  that, 
therefore,  the  method,  appointed  by  Christ  for  learning  what 
he  has  taught,  on  the  various  articles  of  his  religion,  is  to 
HEAR  THE  CHURCH  propounding  them  to  us  from  the 
whole  of  his  rule.  This  method,  1  have  shown,  continued  to 
be  pointed  out  by  the  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church,  in  con- 
stant succession,  and  that  it  is  the  only  one  which  is  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  mankind,  in  general ;  the  only  one, 
which  leads  to  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Christian  church  ; 
and  the  only  one,  which  aflbrds  tranquillity  and  security  to  in- 
dividual Cliristians  during  life,  and  at  the  trying  hour  of  their 
dissolution. 

At  this  point,  my  labours  might  have  ended  ;  as  the  Catholic 
church  alone  follows  the  right  rule,  and  the  right  rule  infallibly 
leads  to  the  Catholic  church  :  but  since  bishop  Porteus,  and 
other  Protestant  controvertists,  raise  cavils,  as  to  which  is  the 
true  church ;  and  whereas  this  is  a  question,  that  admits  of  a 
still  more  easy  and  more  triumphant  answer,  than  that  concern- 
ing the  right  rule  of  faith,  1  have  made  this  the  subject  of  a 
second  series  of  letters,  with  wliich,  I  flatter  myself,  the  greater 


part  of 
an  attei 
true  ch 
agree, 
marks 


letter  tk 


028 


fnetliod  of 
rring  one ; 
uations  of 
posed  pri- 
;  because 
age,  since 
iediiess  of 
le  written 
ion  of  its 
to  the  ca- 
it  propor- 
and  much 
f  it ;  and, 
>wing  this 
eties,  con- 
agrant  as 
emonstra- 
itten,  and 
irist,   and 
and  that 
Gospels, 
^ssed,  for 
tliat  the 
n  and  in- 
au(i  tliat, 
ling  what 
an,   is  tn 
from  the 
tinned  to 
h,  in  con- 
i  adapted 
)nly  one, 
I  church  ; 
ity  to  in- 
•  of  their 

Catholic 
infallibly 
eus,  and 
ich  is  the 
mils  of  a 
concern- 
iject  of  a 
le  greater 


part  of  you  are  ilhjicquainted.  In  fact,  no  inquiry  is  so  easy,  to 
an  attentive  and  upright  Christian,  as  to  discover  which  is  the 
true  church  of  Christ ;  because,  on  one  hand,  all  Christians 
agree,  in  their  common  creeds,  concerning  the  characters  or 
marks,  which  she  bears ;  and  because,  on  the  other  hand,  these 
marks  are  of  an  exterior  and  splendid  kind,  such  as  require  no 
extensive  learning  or  abilities,  and  little  more  than  the  use  of 
our  senses  and  coinnton  reason,  to  discern  them.  In  short,  to 
ascertain  which,  among  the  numerous  and  jarring  societies  of 
Christians,  all  pretending  to  have  found  out  the  truths  of  Re- 
velation, is  the  true  church  of  Christ,  that  necessarily  possesses 
them,  we  have  only  to  observe  which  among  them  is  distinctive- 
ly, ONE,  HOLY,  CATHOLIC,  and  APOSTOLICAL,  and 
the  discovery  is  made.  la  treating  o{  these  characters,  oi 
marks,  I  said  it  was  obvious  to  every  beholder,  that  there  is  no 
bond  of  union  whatever  among  the  diflerent  societies  of  Protest- 
ants; and  that  no  articles,  canons,  oaths,  or  laws,  had  the  force 
of  confining  the  members  of  any  one  of  them,  as  experience 
shows,  to  a  uniformity  of  belief,  or  even  profession,  in  a  single 
kingdom  or  island  ;  while  the  great  Catholic  church,  spread 
as  it  is  over  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  consisting,  as  it  does,  oj 
all  nations,  and  tribes,  and  peoples^  and  tongues,  is  strictly  unit- 
ed together,  in  the  same  faith,  the  same  saxrraments,  and  the 
same  church-government ;  in  short,  that  it  demonstratively  ex- 
hibits the  first  mark  of  the  true  church,  unity.— -With  respect  to 
the  second  mark,  sanctity^  I  showed,  that  «he,  alone,  teaches  and 
enforces  the  white  doctrine  of  the  gospel ;  that  she  is  the  mother 
of  all  the  saiiitji,  acknowledged  as  such  by  Protestants  them- 
selves ;  that  sh«?  possesses  many  means  of  attaining  sanctity, 
which  the  latter  disclaim ;  and  that  God  himself  attests  the 
truth  of  this  church,  by  the  miracles  with  which,  from  time  to 
time,  he  illustrates  her  exclusively  :  and,  whereas  many  eminent 
Protestant  writers  have  charged  the  Catholics  with  deception 
and  forgery  on  this  head,  I  have  unanswerably  retorted  the 
charge  upon  themselves.  No  words  vtre  wanting  to  show, 
that  the  Catholic  church  bears  the  glorious  name  of  CATHO 
Lie,  and  N'ery  few  to  demonstrate,  that  >he  is  Catholic  or  uni- 
versal, with  respect  both  to  place  and  time,  and  that  she  is  also 
apostolical.  The  latter  point,  however,  I  exhibited  in  a  more 
evident  and  sensible  manner,  by  means  of  the  sketch  of  an 
apostolical  tree,  or  genealogical  table  of  the  church,  which  ) 
sent  you  ;  showing  the  succession  of  her  pontiffs,  her  most  emi- 
nent bishops,  doctors  and  saints,  as  also,  of  the  most  notorious 
btJictics  aud  schismatics,  who  have  been  lopped  oft'  froi.i  this 


m^ 


Z^eii^  L. 


,tre^,  in  every  age  froin  that  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present 
age.  "  No  church,  but  the  Catholic,  can  exhibit  any  thing  of 
this  kind,"  as  Tertullian  reproached  the  seceders  of  his  time. 
Under  this  head^  you  must  have  observed,  in  particular,  the 
want  of  an  apostolical  succession  of  ministry,  which,  1  showed, 
all  Protestant  societies  labour  under,  and  their  want  of  success 
in  attempting  ^le  ]a^p|'k  qfthe  apostles,  the  conversion  of  Pagan 
nations.  ,,  .,;.,. 

The  third  series  of  my  letters  has  been  employed  in  tearing 
o$  the  hideous  mask,  with  which  calumuy  and  misrepresentation 
had  disiigured  the  fair  face  of  Christ's  true  spouse,  the  Catho- 
lic church.  In  this  endeavour,  1  trust,  1  have  been  successful, 
and  that  there  is  i^ot  one  of  your  society  who  will  any  more  re- 
proach Catholics  with  being  Idolaters,  on  account  of  their  re- 
spect for  the  memorials  of  Christ  and  his  saints,  or  of  their  de- 
suring  the  prayers  of  the  latter ;  or  on  account  of  the  adoration 
thev  pay  to  the  divine  Jesus,  hidden  behind  the  Sacramental 
veils:  nor  will  they,  hereafter,  accuse  us  of  purchasing,  or 
otherwise  procuring  leave  to  commit  sin,  or  the  previous  pardon 
of  sins,  to  be  committed ;  or,  in  short,  of  perfidy,  sedition, 
cruelty,  or  systematic  wickedness  of  any  kind.  So  far  from 
this,  1  have  reason  to  hope,  that  the  view  of  the  church  herself 
which  I  have  exhibited  to  your  society,  instead  of  the  carica- 
ture of  her,  which  Dr.  Porteus,  and  other  bigoted  controvertisis 
have  held  up  to  the  public,  has  produced  a  desire  in  several  of 
them  to  return  to  the  communion  of  this  original  church ;  beai*- 
ingi  as  she  clearly  does,  all  the  marks  of  the  true  church ; 
gifted,  as  she  manifestly  is,  with  so  many  helps  for  salvation ; 
and  possessing  the  only  safe  and  practicable  rule  for  ascertain- 
ing the  truths  of  Revelation.  The  consideration  which,  1  un- 
derstand, has  struck  some  of  them,  in  the  most  forcible  manner, 
is  that  which  I  suggested  from  my  own  knoM  ledge  and  experi- 
ence, as  well  as  from  the  observation  of  the  eminent  writers 
whom  I  named ;  namely,  that  no  Catholic^  at  the  near  approach 
ofdeathf  is  ever  found  desirous  of  dying  in  any  other  religion, 
while  numbers  of  Protestants,  in  that  situation,  s»ek  to  be.  recou' 
cilvd  to  the  Catholic  religion.  't  ^^•t^^^lti 

Some  of  your  number  have  said,  that,  though  they  are  o( 
opinion  that  the  Catholic  religion  is  the  true  one,  yet  they  have 
not  that  evidence  of  the  fact,  whicii  they  think  sufficient  to  jus- 
tify a  change  in  so  important  a  point  \s  that  of  religion. — God 
forbid  that  I  should  advise  any  person  to  embrace  the  Catholic 
religion,  without  having  sufficient  evidence  of  its  truth :  but  T 
must  remind  the  persons  in  question,  that  they  have  not  a  meta- 


physici 
Christi 
certain 
which 
still  a 
Cor.  i. 
sincere 
unbelie 
cause, 
underst 
the  will 
as  Lock 
ral,  Go 
stars,  w 
not  afibi 
respect 
morales 
we  mam 
in  the  lei 
at  large 
it  would 
The  gre 
bndie,  ai 
ference  t 
good,  fo 
system. 
MelanctI 
Taylor, 
and  For 
found  in 
divine  of 
ty,  and  1 
Scriptun 
that  salv 
the  case 
It  rem 
take  his 
ly  take, 
ever  you 
scientiou 
from  yo 
his  soul ! 


Letter  L, 


S35 


the  present 

ny  thing  o( 
of  his  time, 
rticular,  the 
I,  1  showed, 
i  of  success 
»n  of  Pagan 

d  in  tearing 
presentation 
the  Catho- 
I  successful, 
ny  more  re- 
of  their  re- 
of  their  de- 
le  adoration 
sacramental 
■chasing,  or 
ious  pardon 
ly,  sedition, 
So  far  from 
arch  herself 
'  the  carica* 
^ntrovertisis 
n  several  of 
urch ;  bear- 
ue  church; 
salvation ; 
ir  ascertain- 
hich,  I  un- 
)le  manner, 
and  experi- 
nent  writers 
ar  approach 
er  religiont 
to  be.  recon" 

they  are  of 
;t  they  have 
cient  to  jus- 
gion. — God 
lie  Catholic 
ruth;  buiT 
not  a  meta* 


physical  evidence,  or  a  mathematical  certainty  of  the  trntk  of 
Christianity,  in  general ;  they  have  only  a  moral  evidence,  and 
certainty  of  it :  with  all  the  miracles  and  other  arguments,  by 
which  Christ  and  his  apostles  proved  this  divine  system,  it  was 
still  a  stumbling  block  to  the  Jewty  and  folly  to  the  Gentitei,  1 
Cor.  i.  23 :  in  short,  there  is  light  enough  in  it  to  guide  the 
sincere  faithful,  and  obscurity  enough  to  mislead  the  perverse 
unbelievers,  according  to  the  observation  of  St.  Austin ;  be* 
cause,  after  all,  faith  is  not  merely,  a  divine  illustration  of  the 
understanding,  but  also,  a  divine,  and  yet  voluntary  motion  of 
the  will.  Hence,  if,  in  travelling  through  this  darksome  vale 
as  Locke,  1  think,  observes  with  respect  to  Revelation  in  gene* 
ral,  God  is  pleased  to  give  us  the  light  of  the  moon  or  of  the 
stars,  we  are  not  to  stand  still  on  our  journey,  because  he  does 
not  aflbrd  us  the  light  of  the  sun.  The  same  is  to  be  said,  with 
respect  to  the  evidence  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  religion  :  it  is 
moral  evidence  of  the  first  quality ;  far  superior  to  that  on  which 
we  manage  our  temporal  aflairs  and  guard  our  lives ;  and  not, 
in  the  least,  below  that  which  exists  for  the  truth  of  Christianity 
at  large. — At  all  events,  it  is  wise  to  choose  the  safer  part :  and 
it  would  be  madness  to  act  otherwise,  when  eternity  is  at  stake. 
The  great  advocates  of  Christianity,  SS.  Austin,  Pascal,  Ab- 
bndie,  and  others,  argue  thus,  in  recommending  it  to  us,  in  pre- 
ference to  infidelity  :  pow,  the  same  argument  evidently  holds 
good,  for  preferring  the  Catholic  religion  to  every  Protestant 
system.  The  most  eminent  Protestant  divines,  such  as  Luther 
Melancthon,  Hooker,  Chillingworth,  with  the  bishops,  Laud, 
Taylor,  Sheldon,  Blanford,  and  the  modern  prelates.  Marsh 
and  Porteus  himself,  all  acknowledge,  that  salvation  may  be 
found  in  the  communion  of  the  original  Catholic  church :  but  no 
divine  of  this  church,  consistently  with  her  chnracteristical  uni- 
ty, and  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  holy  fathers  and  of  the 
Scripture  itself,  as  I  have  elsewhere  demonstrated,  can  allow, 
that  salvation  is  to  be  found  out  of  that  communion ;  except  in 
the  case  of  invincible  ignorance. 

It  remains,  my  dear  friends  and  brethren,  for  each  of  you  to 
take  his  and  her  part :  but  remember,  that  the  part  you  several- 
ly take,  is  taken  for  eternity !  On  this  occasion,  therefore,  if 
ever  you  ought  to  do  so,  reflect  and  decide  seriously  and  con- 
scientiously, dismissing  all  worldly  respects,  of  whatever  kind, 
from  your  minds ;  for  what  exchange  slinll  a  man  receive  for 
his  soul!*  and  what  will  the  prejudiced  opinion  of  your  fellow 

•  Mat.  xvi.  20. 


XetlcrX. 


taoitmh  oiriiit  yontni  the  tribnnalv  where  we  are  all  so  soon  to  ab> 
pear!  and  indie  vast  abyss  of  eternity  m  which  we  shall*  t[aick^ 
}$r  be  all  ingulfed!  Will  aiiy  of  thenk  ^lead  your  cause  at  that 
bar?  And  wiU  yosar  punithineiit  be  more  tolerable  frohi  their 
aliaring  in'  it  f  Finally^  beseech  your  future  judge,  who  is  now 
your  roerciliil  Saviour^  with  all  the  fervour  and  sincerity  of 
your  souls,  to  bestow  upon  you  the  light  to  see  your  way,  and 
the  strength  to  follow  it,  which  he  merited  for  you,  when  he 
iMBig,  for  three  hours,  your  agoniiing  victim,  on  the  cross.  i^ 
i'  Adieu,  my  dear  friends  and  brethren,  we  shall  soon  meet  to- 
gether at  the  ti'ibimal  1  have  mentioned ;  and  be  assured,  that 
I  look  forward  to  that  meeting  with  a  perfect  confidence,  that 
you  aud  I,  and  the  Great  Judge  himselt',  will  then  approve,  in 
CfMiimoa,  of  the  advice  1  now  give  you. 

lBni,&c      •'♦^" 
«t  ii  \  MlurUiV}  ^iUlo  -iiwrnX  fii  ymnbi  J^  ]|| 

,iuii  iMi«.;  r;*^ji_:iJjo  fn»;ur<  fjitn  MiitTlii  Iinoqsrnj  in.  ;j<i  if 

•.•;)iriiJ!i'nfi'>1o  rituiJ  jiU  uH  ^.P.ict  lintin  iiMi  (tohn.  ,,,  ..  ..  tilj  Vii 
liiif!  :  »'u;(j  T^r    -:?»  •)  rM  >f  >  m)  -j^iw  at  $\  f^.Ui'rn  f\r,  )t — <,*r;^'it^f  in 

'  '.'filhh^fti  oi  9^n'H'>\ 

)  . f'/lrtioll  ftioi^f:yf<n\'tH 
R  ,'ll'ikfnh{  ««r^h«»*T  lifti! 

■ftrll  In  hit'?     inih< '  vlvwl  'jift^^ri    HinMuli  I0flli»iwi^  Wl  h««>v» 
01  )<p"i/  »  i  RoiiiuminO')  JuiiHIo  i»o  l>a»HHi*  'ul  ol  f  i  ««JMiVli> .  ini\i 


:ih)!>  t»HH  T*>'ill»' 


..  .  :k  ,f  uir.in^l  Jf*    ' 


'{;n(|  'Jill  Ihy/  iwl«  liiu,  '!  lm)>,  H^ 


'TP'» 


I  sdon  to  alb- 
shall' (]nict 
iitise  teit  that 
i  frohi  their 
who  is  how 
sincerity  of 
ir  way,  and 
>U)  when  he 
e  cross,  s^ 
on  meet  to- 
sured,  that 
dence,  that 
approve,  in 

Jj^    ('"^f:   tr.ft 

J.M 

">hvn'  imtrnt 

ftcu'A  mi}  \u 
r  oi  9')fi'>T»i 

fit  I'l  anhi' 
it*^iid  &4! 


jn- 


